Karen Tay

Karen Tay, Theory & Ear Training Faculty

Karen Tay, harpist, enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, orchestral player, chamber musician, and educator. Having learnt the harp at the age of 4 from her mother, she is a highly sought-after harpist in Singapore and New York City. Some of her achievements include the best commission excellence award at the Rave Harps International Prestige Awards 2021, winner of Strings at the NAFA-Kris Foundation Concerto Competition 2019, and being the first Singaporean Finalist in the Emerging Artist category of the Young Artist Harp Competition 2016.

She has piloted a series of harp and music foundation workshops in schools and is very active facilitating community music and outreach projects. A notable project was where she performed and recorded in a Scholars-Give-Back Series as part of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts scholar alumni, raising funds for future students in financial need. She substitutes frequently as an instructor at the Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School Harp Ensemble. With many years of experience teaching harp, music theory and ear training, she enjoys working with students of all ages and learning styles. She is a founding member of Singapore’s first harp quartet The Harp Quarterly. Through curating and executing music workshops and multi-disciplinary performances, she is a versatile performer who enjoys sharing music.

Representing her cohort as the Valedictorian, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the joint program between Royal College of Music London and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore under a full scholarship from OCBC. Her harp teachers throughout her years in Singapore are Huang Yu-Hsin and her mother, Magdalene Wong. She received a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and is currently in the Doctor of Musical Arts program where she also serves as a Doctoral Fellow and the Theory and Ear Training Tutor at the Precollege. She is under the tutelage of Mariko Anraku, Associate Principal Harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 2023.