Meet the 2026 NEHF Presenters!
Rachel Clemente
Rachel Clemente is a New England-based Scottish lever and pedal harpist, composer and educator who has trained in and performed across the U.S. and Scotland. With her focus on traditional Scottish and Gaelic music, Rachel has performed at major festivals around the world, including the world-renowned Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Boston Celtic Music Festival, and Yachats Celtic Music Festival. After graduating from Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy and later earning a Bachelor’s Degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (BMus Traditional Scottish Music), Rachel relocated to Vermont and has since focused on establishing herself in the New England folk scene. She frequently performs as a soloist, and is also one-half of the duo If You Must Know, alongside bagpiper Dan Houghton. Rachel’s accolades include being named the U.S. National Scottish Harp Champion in 2016 and the winner of the U.S. Princess Margaret of the Isles Clàrsach Competition in 2021.
Phoebe Durand-McDonnell
Phoebe Durand-McDonnell grew up in Bar Harbor, Maine. She attended NEC’s Preparatory School and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in high school before earning her BM in harp performance at Oberlin Conservatory, with Yolanda Kondonassis. In 2019, Phoebe received a Fulbright Research Grant to study historical harps with Dr. Maria Cleary at the Haute École de musique de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland, and received her first MA in interprétation spécialisée, pratique des instruments historiques from HEM, with intensive study on medieval and renaissance single- and double-rowed harps, Spanish arpa de dos ordenes, Italian and Welsh baroque arpa doppia, and the harpe organisée, or single-action pedal harp. In 2023, Phoebe completed an MA in musicology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where her thesis was titled “She Drew Forth its Strongest Sounds”: Tracing the Historical Throughline of Women Harpists. She is currently working on her PhD in musicology at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, UK. Her dissertation will be a feminist biographical study of 17th-century harp virtuosa, Lucrezia Urbana.
Allison Miller
Allison Miller began her musical career at age three with Suzuki piano lessons under the tutelage of Carol Wunderle and, although she continued to play piano for the next thirteen years, she picked up the harp at age fourteen and began to explore the traditional music scene. She was very positively influenced by years of attendance at the Ohio Scottish Arts School and, after completing an undergraduate degree in Biology, had the opportunity to pursue post-graduate studies in Clarsach (Scottish small harp) and Scots Song at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Allison taught with Comhaltas coinin Erin in Scotland, has taught both privately and publicly in America, and has appeared in concert in Scotland, Canada, and at multiple venues in the States. She and her sister, Sairey, often play as a duo, The Hired Hands, and they have released two recordings together: Something in the spring of 2009, and Somewhere in the spring of 2022. Allison was awarded the title of National Scottish Harp Champion of America after winning the 2012 National Scottish Harp Competition. She has her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, is a Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner through IHTP, and has held the position of Treasurer for the Scottish Harp Society of America since 2009.
Abbie Palmer
Abbie Palmer is a trail-blazing harpist, vocalist, composer, producer, recording artist, music therapist, and educator hailing from the Washington DC area. After studying Classical music in college and having grown up surrounded by Celtic and Folk music, she expanded her musical horizons, diving into Electronic, World music, and Conteporary rock/pop, ultimately shaping a distinctive style on a unique instrument that fuses the traditional with the experimental. As a touring musician, Abbie has toured with bands such as The Devil’s Brigade, the Seán Heely Celtic Band, and Celtica Nova. Wheter composing in the studio, performing on stage, or guiding students, Abbie encourages exploration and improvisation, teaching others to embrace the freedom of musical expression.
Rhiannon Skye
Rhiannon Skye is a Connecticut-based lever harper, composer, performer, educator, and adjudicator for the Scottish Harp Society of America, who has performed in New England, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Spain, Scotland, and Ireland. In 2023, Rhiannon was invited to compete in The Princess Margaret of the Isles Memorial Prize for Senior Clarsach, where she was awarded best original composition and best overall performance. She is also the 2024 winner of the National Scottish Harp Championship of America. Although her heart lies in Scottish, Irish, and Cape Breton traditional music, Rhiannon’s repertoire also includes classical, pop, jazz, and other styles. She attended Berklee College of Music, earning a BA in Performance in 2020, and the University of Limerick, receiving a Masters in Irish Music Studies in January 2024.