About Mary
Making her solo debut at the age of sixteen performing Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mary Duplantier continues to live an active career as an orchestral harpist, chamber musician, soloist, and educator. Mary is the Principal Harpist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Lima Symphony Orchestra, and Peoria Symphony Orchestra. A sought-after harpist, Mary has also been heard with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, among others. In past years, Mary has also been invited to participate in the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute and held a faculty position as Harp Orchestra Fellow at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.
Mary has cultivated a strong passion for chamber musician, with a particular interest in new works. Mary joined the Cincinnati New Music Ensemble in 2020 where she has premiered several new works by both national and international composers. Mary is the newly appointed harpist in the Illumine Trio alongside trumpet player Chris O’Hara and Soprano Sarah Moyer and has toured with the trio all across the US. Duplantier has also toured with the Harvest Arts Quintet during their fall tour in 2023.
In addition to performing, Mary has nurtured a love and passion for education. In 2018 she served as an adjudicator for the American String Teachers Association Certificate of Advanced Placement Program (ASTACAP). Mary also serves as the harp faculty at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati and previously taught harp students from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as part of her Graduate Assistantship from 2022-2024. Duplantier also enjoys teaching both in-person and zoom lessons privately from her home studio in Cincinnati. Mary holds both an Artist Diploma and Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied under Dr. Gillian Benet Sella and Dr. Ann Yeung, respectively. Outside of music, Mary enjoys spending her time cooking new recipes, swing dancing, and spending time with her two dogs, Daphnis and Chloe, and two cats, Smokey and Moe.