Michelle Gott – Ontario

harpist . composer . teacher . HarpSparks . interdisciplinary projects

Spring. I choose spring, because I feel like I am exploring so many new things right now, growing and blooming in unexpected ways. However, I also feel like I am growing into seeds that were actually planted many years ago. Parts of my creative self, that were seemingly dormant for years, are now blooming like creative, colourful, inner child wildflowers. – Michelle

A native of Las Vegas and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, harpist Michelle Gott strives to integrate her classical training in her creative mission that includes composition, improvisation, interdisciplinary projects, commissions, and teaching. In 2024, Michelle founded HarpSparks to stretch the sonic possibilities of the harp and its collaborative potential through workshops, performances, mentorship for composers, and a biannual festival in Ottawa. In partnership with the Voices Dance Project and HarpSparks, Michelle presented Shaping Reciprocity – a three-day festival in May 2026 with 12 world premieres of works for harp and dance ensemble on a theme of interspecies empathy. The festival also featured several Ontario-based harpists (Audrey Morris, Angela Schwarzkopf, and Elysha Vorstenbosch), nine local composers, and discussions with three environmental organizations (Ecology Ottawa, SCALE, and Civic Imagination Lab.)

As an evolving composer, Michelle has been exploring her deep environmental interests, focusing on the devastating impact of the live-capture industry on the Southern Resident Killer Whales, plastic pollution, and the fragility of all life on earth. In July 2026, Michelle was invited to present two of these works at the American Dance Festival, with her long-time collaborator and choreographer Autumn Eckman. Her interdisciplinary work with Autumn also includes several immersive projects with dance and film, exploring a range of subjects from trauma in abusive relationships to glacial deterioration.

As soloist, Michelle has appeared at the National Arts Centre and the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, the Brevard Music Festival, Ottawa New Music Festival and ChamberFest, and for the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. She also has extensive orchestral experience, subbing as guest principal and second harp with the major orchestras of Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, Dallas, Vermont, and others. Michelle holds her BM, MM, and DMA degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Nancy Allen. She is profoundly grateful to her husband, Alex, for his steadfast belief in her wild ideas, and to the many mentors and teachers throughout her life.

The Crown of Ariadne (1978): R. Murray Schafer’s Method in the Manuscripts
by Michelle Gott
Close examination of R. Murray Schafer’s extensive collaboration with harpist Judy Loman.
– The American Harp Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3 Summer 2022

Harp Sparks – Shaping Reciprocity
photos by Lisa Tolmie, Lady on Fire Photography