BIOgraphy

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Harpist and musicologist, Ina McCormack, is an active orchestral and chamber musician based in Northeast Ohio who seeks to integrate interdisciplinary scholarship into her renderings of the classical and contemporary repertoire. She currently serves as Principal Harpist of the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. Recent performance engagements include the Blossom Festival Band, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Akron Symphony, Cleveland Ballet Orchestra, Firelands Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, and Ohio Light Opera Orchestra.

 

As an award-winning soloist, Ina received First Place at the American Harp Society’s 19th National Harp Competition. She also appeared with the National Repertory Orchestra as their 2019 Harp Fellow and Featured Soloist on the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp. Her talents have been showcased at the “Stars of Tomorrow” Recital held during the 10th USA International Harp Competition, the Fine Arts Chamber Players “Basically Beethoven Festival” concert series, and the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP) Re:Sound Festival. Additional summer festival credits include fellowships to the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival, Round Top Festival Institute, and Interlochen Arts Camp.

 

A dedicated new music supporter, Ina performed the live premiere of Philip Maneval’s The Demise of the Shepard Glacier as part of the “Five Minutes for Earth” Project. She has participated on numerous recordings for the Oberlin Music Label as a member of their Contemporary Music Ensemble, and she can be heard on the world-premiere recording of Frammenti dalle lettere di Santa Caterina as part of the Akron Symphony’s Julia Perry Project. Local performance highlights include opening the “Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy” program at Blossom Music Center, presenting the world-premiere of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Ko’koom’fena with CityMusic Cleveland, and accompanying the Cleveland Chamber Choir and The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus on Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols.

 

Ina holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Yolanda Kondonassis. As the first harpist admitted into the CIM Doctor of Musical Arts program, Ina presented a lecture recital entitled “Sounding Fantastique: Hearing Sonic Fantasy Through the Fin-de-siècle French Harp,” upon which she was awarded the Joycelyn Chang & Michael Leese Award for exceptional performance creativity. Other notable honors include the Alice Chalifoux Prize in Harp (CIM) and the James H. Hall Prize in Music History (Oberlin). As an alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy, Ina graduated with honors and the Fine Arts Award in Harp.

 

In addition to her performance endeavors, Ina is a PhD Musicology candidate at Case Western Reserve University. Her forthcoming dissertation will research harps, supernaturalism, and timbral transformation.