Gretchen Brumwell is adjunct instructor of harp at the University of Northern Iowa. She also serves as principal harpist of the Cedar Rapids Symphony and of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony. A resident of Cedar Rapids, she is an active performer with music organizations throughout Iowa. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony, the Ottumwa Symphony, the Oskaloosa Symphony, the Iowa City Community String Orchestra, and the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra.

In 1998 Ms. Brumwell joined flutist Elizabeth Sadilek to give the premier performance of ‘Songs Without Words‘, a new work written for them by Jeremy Beck. Later that year, the pair recorded the same work for a Capstone Records release.

An active teacher, Ms. Brumwell maintains a full studio in the Cedar Rapids Symphony School. She is also Director of the Harp Department at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where she teaches during the summer.

Ms. Brumwell followed an unusual path to the field of music, receiving a Bachelor‘s Degree in Biblical Studies from Grace University before earning her Master‘s Degree in Harp Performance from Rice University. While at Rice, she was a regular substitute with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Ballet Orchestra. Her work with the Houston Symphony included a recording and release of Schoenberg‘s Pelleas and Melisande on the Koch International label. She is a student of Mary Bircher, Paula Page, and the legendary Alice Chalifoux.