Harpist Brandee Younger bridges many genres, from classical to R&B to jazz

“A harp belongs anywhere.” For harpist and composer Brandee Younger, those words sum up the spirit that drives her genre-blending career. Classically trained and now best known as a jazz harpist, Younger also has worked with artists such as rappers Common and Lauryn Hill, R&B singer-songwriter John Legend and indie rocker Moses Sumney.

On April 4, Younger and her trio — featuring bassist Rashaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard — will perform on the Symphony Center Presents Jazz series in a double bill with Hiromi’s Sonicwonder. The trio’s set will feature new music from Younger’s forthcoming album (with a release date and title yet to be announced), originals from her previous albums and music by two of her biggest inspirations — Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, two Black women who pioneered the use of harp in jazz.

Born and raised in Hempstead, New York, Younger played the flute in school and started private harp lessons around the age of 11. She credits her first harp teacher, Karen Strauss, with encouraging her interest in music genres beyond classical.

“One thing I always wanted to do was to play music that I felt related to me, and also related to people around me,” Younger said in a recent interview. “So, I would show up to lessons with a recording of something on the radio, and my teacher was so nice — as long as I was completing what was in my method books and everything that was required, she was kind enough to transcribe for me these pop tunes and make a lead sheet. That was like the dessert to my meals.”

While she worked toward her undergraduate degrees in harp performance and music management from the University of Hartford and a master of music from New York University, Younger continued to pursue her eclectic musical interests. A “turning point” in her career came in 2007, when she performed with jazz saxophonist Ravi Coltrane at a memorial for his mother, Alice Coltrane.

Since the release of her first album in 2011, Younger has achieved accolades such as winning the DownBeat Critics Poll in the category of “Rising Star” harpist (2020), becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (2022) and winning the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album (2024).

“I spent so many years doing the orchestral stuff and the concertos, but now it feels like I’m doing it with music that speaks to me. … Stylistically, it’s combining those worlds, so it feels truly authentic.” — Brandee Younger

On her most recent album, “Brand New Life” (2023), Younger honors Dorothy Ashby with covers and first-ever recordings of Ashby originals, as well as Younger’s own compositions that salute the trailblazing harpist’s legacy. The album was recorded in Chicago at the home studio of jazz drummer Makaya McCraven. For the project, Younger also sought out other artists who had a connection to Ashby, such as rapper and producer Pete Rock, who introduced hip-hop and R&B listeners to Ashby in the 1990s by sampling her music.

One goal of this collaboration was to “show the continuum of her impact not only at the time [of Ashby’s career], but her impact on a genre of music [hip-hop] that didn’t even exist yet,” said Younger. “That project was my passion baby. It really was important for me to do that, and that’s something I’ve wanted to do for many, many years. So, it wasn’t about reproducing what she did but really about making it my own and just representing her legacy.”

Younger became a largely self-taught composer in adulthood, since she didn’t study composition in her undergraduate and graduate programs. The classical harp repertoire she studied for many years plays an important role in her process, as she often takes inspiration from existing material to create new music. For example, an original composition on her next album references A Ceremony of Carols, Benjamin Britten’s 1942 work for treble chorus, vocal soloists and harp.

Younger also is reconnecting with another element of her classical roots during her 2024/25 stint as a resident artistic director at SFJAZZ. “We’re doing a whole program of my originals with orchestra, so it’s really beautiful to blend my worlds,” she said. “It’s like a full-circle moment. I spent so many years doing the orchestral stuff and the concertos, but now it feels like I’m doing it with music that speaks to me. … Stylistically, it’s combining those worlds, so it feels truly authentic in a way that separating them really doesn’t.”

In her upcoming performance at Symphony Center, she looks forward to sharing original music such as Unrest, a two-movement piece she wrote in response to the social-justice protests in 2020. A commission from the Jazz Coalition and featured in Younger’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert in 2023, Unrest has not yet been released on an album, but it “is actually the piece that is most impactful in all of our performances,” she said.

Although she’s based in New York, Younger considers Chicago “a second home.” Her sister used to live in the city while working for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and these days, Younger takes “any excuse to go to Chicago” with her band. She even boasts that she was once introduced as an honorary Chicagoan during a performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival: “I hold my title proudly.”