Alyssa was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, where she began her musical pursuits at an early age, from singing in church as a toddler to serving as her church’s pianist from the age of 12 onward. She began her formal studies on the harp at age of 13, and was immediately hooked for life, enjoying her middle and high school studies with Andrea Blanchfield Erling, and participating in the Fayetteville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Snyder Youth Orchestra during this time.

Alyssa began her collegiate musical studies at Methodist University, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance, summa cum laude, under the tutelage of Ms. Winifred Garrett of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. In recognition of her accomplishments as a performer at MU, she was presented with the Willis C. Gates Award for Excellence in Performance upon her graduation, and, as one of the five highest GPAs in her graduating class, she received a nomination for Distinguished Graduate. While at MU, Alyssa conducted original research in musicology, culminating in an expansive research paper and project, and she presented her findings at MU’s Annual Research and Creativity Symposium in Spring 2021. Her presentation, Unity of Word and Music in Martin Luther’s Chorales, is available through university archives and has served as the springboard for further research in her post-graduate studies.

Alyssa continued her musical education at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, studying with Susan Knapp Thomas of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and graduating with honors. It was during this time that Alyssa made her solo debut with orchestra, playing the Danses Sacree et Profane with the Hartt Orchestra alongside her colleague, Chuyao Liu. During her tenure in New England, Alyssa enjoyed performing with many talented groups, including the Yale University Wind Ensemble, Foot in the Door contemporary music ensemble, the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, UMass Amherst Orchestra, UConn Orchestra, as well as the Hartt Opera, Hartt Orchestra, Hartt Wind Ensemble, and Hartt Symphony Band.

Upon graduation with her Master’s degree, Alyssa returned to North Carolina to serve as adjunct Instructor of Music at her alma mater, Methodist University, teaching music history, voice, and general music education and jazz history courses. She also serves as harp, piano, and voice faculty at Snyder Music Academy. Since her return to NC, Alyssa has been an active performer in the greater NC area, making regular appearances with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Carolina Philharmonic, Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Florence Symphony Orchestra, Durham Symphony Orchestra, the Augusta Symphony Orchestra, and many other ensembles across the East Coast.

Alyssa resides in Greensboro, NC, where she is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and recipient of the Adelaide Fortune Holderness Fellowship. She continues to serve as a member of the music faculty at Methodist University, and she serves as harp faculty at Brooklyn Arts Music Academy in Wilmington, NC. Her field of doctoral research is focused primarily on early Protestant liturgical music, particularly of the Lutheran tradition. She studies with Andrea Mumm Trammell of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Other instructors and mentors include Anita Burroughs-Price and Jacquelyn Bartlett.