ALYSSA REIT
Composer, Arranger, Harpist, Storyteller, Teacher
Alyssa is a composer, arranger, harpist, and storyteller.
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As a harpist, she has played with ensembles ranging from the Orchestra of St. Lukes, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera, to contemporary music groups and traditional Irish bands. She has accompanied renowned storyteller Laura Simms, toured with Patti Lupone and Kevin Klein under the auspices of Lincoln Center Children’s Programs, performed all over Europe
with Martha Clarke, and toured the U.S. with the world famous vocal group, Anonymous 4.
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With husband French hornist Peter Reit, Alyssa gives frequent performances throughout the New York metropolitan area.
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She was founder, artistic director, and resident composer for Singing Harp, an arts troupe which presented fairy tales, myths, and classic stories in innovative dramatic and musical forms. The company performed at such esteemed venues as Caramoor and the NYU Storytelling Series, and received critical acclaim at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They received grants from NYSCA, the Westchester Arts Council, and the Rudyard and Emanualla Reimss Fund in the Westchester Community Foundation.
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In addition to the Singing Harp repertoire, her theatrical works include the Japanese tale Inch Boy, the native American story The Star Maiden, several settings of Aesop’s fables, the Arthurian tale The Loathly Lady, the Grimms classic The Brementown Musicians (as a grant from Meet the Composer), and three settings of Hans Christian Andersen tales commissioned by the New York Scandinavian Summer Music Festival: The Ugly Duckling, The Nightingale, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. In the fall of 2015 she wrote, arranged and performed music for The Triumph of Love, a production based on the life and work of Botticelli, which premiered in Italy. In 2019 she was the featured harpist-composer at the American Harp Society Summer Institute, where they presented her newly commissioned work, The Tinder Box.
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Alyssa's non-theatrical compositions and arrangements have been played at events sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Eastman School of Music, and the Greenwich Symphony, as well as at festivals all over the world. Her body of work ranges from solos for diverse instruments, brass quintets, mixed chamber music, and choral pieces, to music for string orchestra. Current projects include a Broadway musical and a ballet based on H.C. Andersen’s The Snow Queen.
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Alyssa and Peter have three sons—David, Nathaniel, and Michael—and are the very happy grandparents of six grandchildren: Layla, Bennie, Maddie, Makoa, Maverick, and Grayson. They live in upper Westchester, where they especially enjoy adventures in cooking, gardening and birdwatching.
Listening Samples Below
