Program Notes
Rita Costanzi's life story explores the vulnerabilities experienced as a female musician torn between the needs of her artist's soul and those of her husband and children. Integrating solo harp music and theatrical performance, WOMAN ON A LEDGE is a story of love, devotion, conflict and loss, all set to some of the most beautiful music ever composed.
Through her depth of expression as an internationally acclaimed harp soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, actor, teacher and writer, Rita Costanzi “bears the mark of the true Artist: a musician of exceptional accomplishment whose warmth and exquisite virtuosity touch listeners in deep and unexpected ways.” said Irish Author, Treasa O’Driscoll.
In November 2024, Woman On A Ledge by Hershey Felder – based on her Memoir - made theatrical history at Theater for the New City, as the first solo female show with a full dramatic script, accompanied by classical harp. Victoria Dammer, Opening Night Critic wrote: “An Unforgettable One-Woman Show of Heart and Humanity: this performance offers a profound experience that resonates long after the final note fades.”
After relocating to New York City in 2007, Costanzi collaborated with Director, Arthur Masella, long-time Associate of Hal Prince, on an award-winning one-woman show which was featured at The United Solo Theater Festival in New York City and the Ottawa International Festival.
Costanzi’s CD, Amoroso, (2023) with oboist, Alex Klein, received great critical acclaim (“Ravishing” – Harp Column) and has received over four million streams. A solo Celtic CD for Contemplation and Healing, Song of the Stars, (2004) was remastered for digital release in August of 2025. Her documentary film “Moonlight in the Bronx” (2020) – an international prize-winner - captivated viewers around the world with its powerful memorial to Ludwig van Beethoven and the victims of the Pandemic.
Yearly Masterclasses at Brazil’s FEMUSC Festival attract students from around the world who are deeply transformed as harpists and human beings. She has performed and taught internationally in North and South America, Europe and Australia. Her first “Open Window” Harp Retreat took place in Krakow, Poland , August 2025, and is now being planned as an annual event.
Costanzi’s Memoir, “The Strings of my Heart” (Spring, 2025) comprised of 47 Vignettes – one for each string of her concert grand harp – narrates her life as daughter of a celebrated violist, international harp soloist, actor, writer, teacher, composer, mystic, wife, mother, grandmother and divorcee. It has been published by Page Publishing in December, 2025.
Daughter of the noted violist, Francis Tursi, her harp teachers included Eileen Malone, Bernard Zighera, Marcel Grandjany and Jacqueline Borot.
Hershey Felder, playwright
A pianist, actor, producer, playwright and director, Felder is known to audiences for his “composer plays,” Chopin, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Bernstein, Berlin, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff. He has directed and produced plays in the United States and the United Kingdom focusing on great music and musicians. In 2020, Hershey Felder established LIVE FROM FLORENCE, An Arts Broadcasting Company that broadcasts high quality musical programming throughout the world, directly from his studios in Florence, Italy.