Janelle Lake

About Janelle

Chicago-based harpist Janelle Lake celebrates the diverse possibilities of the harp whether she is sharing the stage with Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, or Ricardo Muti at Symphony Center, Billy Swan, Perry Pharrell (Jane’s Addiction), or the gospel choir at the Lighthouse Church of All Nations.

She began the harp at the age of eight, and has Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University. Upon graduating, Janelle played the harp daily at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and then returned to Chicago to perform at the similar position at the Drake Hotel. Janelle has taught at Loyola University, the University of Chicago, Chicago’s WISH program, the Sherwood School at Columbia College, the Music Connection, and has a large and diverse private studio. She is a registered Suzuki teacher.

From 2008-2016, Janelle was the artistic director at Venus Harps. The connections she made at Venus took her on adventures: learning about looping from Tom Moth of Florence and the Machine, performing on a private jet, encouraging and teaching harpists around the world. Janelle holds principal harp positions with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Southwest Symphony Orchestra, and performs regularly with many other ensembles. She is a founding member of the Young Lake harp duet.

Janelle loves to travel and has lived on a boat on the Great Barrier Reef, camped in the Serengeti, summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, dived with sharks in South Africa, swam in the world’s largest rooftop pool in Singapore, traveled by train across Europe, zip lined in Honduras, and has been to all 50 US states. Besides her passions of harp playing and travel, Janelle delights in being a wife and a mother of two young girls.

Website
janellelake.com