Harpist Isabel Cardenes, born and raised in Pittsburgh, is known for her sensitive musicianship and expressive style. She is passionate about using music as a tool for healing and social change, and is a frequent performer in both traditional venues and community-based settings.
Isabel recently performed with the Charleston Symphony and made her solo concerto debut in February 2025, performing the Glière Harp Concerto with the Butler Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2022, she played with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, marking a significant milestone in her orchestral career. During her undergraduate studies, she appeared as a substitute harpist with the Harrisburg Symphony and New Jersey Festival Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician, Isabel was featured at the 2025 Joseph Gingold Chamber Music Festival, performing alongside distinguished artists including Rafael Figueroa, Cho-Liang Lin, Ian Hobson, Richard Young, and Andrés Cárdenes. She is also a founding member of Trio con Brio, a family ensemble that has led a weekly Porch Concert Series since 2020, presenting over 100 regional musicians and raising more than $15,000 for local causes. The trio was commissioned by the Allegheny Regional Council for the Arts to produce the educational video Spark Your Creativity, supporting arts outreach in western Pennsylvania.
As a soloist, Isabel made her piano debut at the age of nine with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen in Germany. On harp, she was awarded First Prize in Pittsburgh’s Lois Streator/Smith Competition in 2019 and Third Prize at the American Harp Society National Competition in North Carolina that same year.
Currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music under the guidance of Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Harpist Elizabeth Hainen, Isabel previously earned her Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Metropolitan Opera harpist Mariko Anraku on a Presidential Scholarship. Her early harp training began at age eleven with Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Harpist Gretchen Van Hoesen.
Isabel has also been recognized for her dedication to music education and community engagement. She received the Arts Scholarship from the Blackwood Center for the Arts in 2021, and from 2016 to 2019, she was awarded merit-based scholarships to attend leading programs including the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Ameropa Festival in Prague, the Olympic Strings Camp, and Musikferienwoche at the Bavarian Music Academy. With a strong commitment to music and wellness, Isabel performed a commemorative program marking the one-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting at Pittsburgh’s Center for Victims. She is a regular performer for chemotherapy patients at the Hillman Cancer Center and has shared meditative music at Rancho La Puerta Wellness Resort in Tecate, Mexico. She also performed in Pittsburgh’s largest sound bath at historic Heinz Chapel, an event featured on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Most recently, she brought her outreach work to the Alzheimer’s Community Care Center in Delray Beach.
Outside of music, Isabel enjoys cooking, reading, and traveling.
