Layne Redmond

Layne Redmond was born in Philadelphia in 1953 and studied at the Juilliard School. She became known for playing solo harp, drawing from ancient Celtic and Greek music rather than sticking strictly to classical traditions.

Her piece 'Invoking Aphrodite' shows what she was after, with harp melodies that feel meditative and a bit removed from standard performance. She released albums like 'The Harp as Healer' in 1988.

Redmond sometimes played the harp by tapping or strumming the strings directly with her hands, which struck some listeners as unorthodox. She kept working in that space between structured music and something more intuitive.