Dawn Harms' diverse career ranges from being a chamber musician, violin soloist, and concertmaster, to being a music director and conductor. She is a first violinist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster for the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and Co-Concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony. She also records regularly at Skywalker Studios for movies and video games.  She teaches at Stanford University, and is the conductor of the pre-college string orchestra at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

Dawn is in her eleventh season as Music Director and conductor of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.  Harms was chosen as a Fellow at the exclusive American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, and has gone on to guest conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and regularly conducts as a clinician for high school honor string orchestras. 

A strong advocate for music education, Dawn has designed her own family show and has performed it throughout the United States, New Zealand, and Japan.

She has performed chamber music with Lynn Harrell, Jake Heggie, Frederica von Stade, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.

What is your hometown?

Paradise, CA

How long have you performed with New Century?

24 years.

What do you love about New Century?

I love that there is no Conductor, and it’s very much like playing chamber music, but in a larger ensemble. Each and every person is so important and you have to be so prepared and know what everybody else has. It’s a very unique situation.

What is your favorite New Century memory?

My favorite memory, is our very 1st US tour with Nadja. It was a blast. Also, when  Daniel had M. Presler come play a Mozart piano concerto with us, and he was in his 90s. He played like an absolute angel. What an honor it was to play with him.

How did you start learning your instrument, or who inspired you to begin?

My parents always wanted a violinist in the family. They tried with my sister, she played the cello, they tried with my brother who played the Violist. They both quit, and I was a parent pleaser, so I kept playing my violin to please my mother especially. Of course she was my pianist and that helped a lot.

What do you like to do when you're not being a musician? What are your hobbies?

I love to walk/hike, bike ride, and especially play Pickleball. I’m also in the process of writing a sitcom. In the winter, I love to snow ski.

What's your favorite Bay Area place (restaurant, park, etc.)?

My favorite restaurant is Elena‘s Mexican restaurant in West portal. My favorite spot to take visitors, and to go myself to hike around, is Bonita lighthouse in Marin. It’s just passed the Golden Gate Bridge up in the Marine headlands. It is just spectacular. And of course, there’s nothing like the Golden Gate Park. It has such variety of beauty, that’s hard to beat.