The American harpist Mollie Marcuson Schiffer can look back on a varied career as a symphony and chamber musician, freelance harpist and harp teacher. Before moving to Germany in 2012, she played regularly with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota and was principal harpist with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas for five years. Furthermore, she played regularly with numerous other large orchestras in the USA, including the Symphony Orchestras of Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City and Spokane.

But Mollie is also an enthusiastic advocate of the new music that she plays and promotes herself. She was principal harpist for two seasons at the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California, and played regularly with Musiqa, a Houston composers collective. In 2007 she recorded works by George Tsontakis with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Together with violist Ab Sengupta, she recorded Karim Al-Zand's 'Duet for Viola And Harp'. This was released in 2009 on the album 'Chamber Music of Karim Al-Zand'. She has premiered numerous orchestral and chamber works by Tsontakis, Al-Zand, Osvaldo Goliov, Carter Pann, David Heath and many others, and has worked with young composers on solo and chamber pieces.

Mollie started playing the harp when she was seven. She received her bachelor's degree in harp from the University of Minnesota in 2003 and her master's degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2006. She was tutored primarily by Paula Page, Alice Chalifoux, Deborah Wells-Clark, Kathy Kienzle, and Francis Miller.

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