“I truly would not be here, even if it wasn’t for that little decision for my harp studio, even if I probably was playing violin, I don’t think I would be sitting here at this school, or had half of probably 99% of the experiences in my life.”

In the fourth grade, Zora Nelson entered a lottery and was chosen to attend Play On Philly, a non-profit afterschool music program aimed at offering opportunities for children of underserved and marginalized communities in the Philadelphia area. In her first week of the program, she explored a variety of different instruments, eventually selecting her three favorites: violin, trombone and percussion. The program placed her in the harp studio. Twelve years later, this instrument is anything but a hobby.

“I like to say it chose me,” Nelson said. 

One of Nelson’s fondest memories from the beginning of her musical career was when her middle school conductor selected Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” for one of their recitals. While 2010’s pop hits aren’t typically associated with the classical instrument, Nelson was excited by the opportunity to use her harp in an unconventional way. Since then, however, she has found that her experience playing in high school and at NYU has been accompanied by a constant pressure to stick to the script and to focus on classical music, deterring further exploration. 

“I just get these pieces by old dead white men and regurgitate it back, and I feel like it’s just been a cyclical process,” Nelson said. “Unfortunately, those days with the pop songs are kind of over, but there’s no one to put the blame on. At the end, with my program, we have certain [time] periods that we have to meet for our recitals.”

The constant stream of strict deadlines and intensive rehearsals for performances would lead to frequent bouts of burnout, stripping the joy that performing music once brought her. At certain points while at NYU, she even questioned whether to quit altogether. This chronic fatigue ultimately led to the decision to not pursue a master’s degree, closing her academic chapter of music.

“I think I just realized, like, once I step outside of these walls, I don’t want to have any ill feelings towards this because I’ve always imagined myself playing for the rest of my life,” Nelson said.

On top of being in the harp program at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Nelson also minors in creative writing and media, culture and communication. The latter gives her the opportunity to work in a more traditional classroom setting. It keeps her rooted in academia and allows her to explore another one of her genuine passions: poetry. Given her roots in music, she finds the harp subconsciously influencing her writing.

“I find myself trying to incorporate musicality all the time and experimenting with rhythm,” Nelson said. “I’m not doing it intentionally. [It’s] something about the sonics and the way that I like [my work] to feel — either format or just word choice,” Nelson said.

This connection manifested in a recent collaboration with one of her peers on a musical project integrating both her harp and her poems. Seeing the draft of the piece made Nelson emotional because it reignited her love for music. She also recently worked with her cousin, a budding hip-hop artist, on a recording where she could feature her instrument’s sound, a unique and experimental addition to the genre. These collaborations have revitalized Nelson’s hope for her future to reimagine and redefine her relationship with music, and she is eager to break from the limits and expectations that have overwhelmed her the past four years. 

“I just really want to do things that feel more me,” Nelson said. 

Reflecting on her entire musical career, even from her first concert, Nelson’s favorite part of playing the harp is the bond she feels with her peers on stage and the audience while performing. These moments of exhilaration and euphoria create a positive relationship between her music and its listeners, making all her hard work feel worth it.

“I have this connection that I feel is just so indescribable,” Nelson said. “I find these moments, like after the concert, getting to see the people who come up and genuinely talk about how happy it made them feel and how much it meant to them, genuinely beautiful. I’ll never understand truly how it did, but that’s enough.”

This connection to her audience and the opportunity to expand her repertoire — and thereby expose a wider audience to the harp — fuels Nelson’s enthusiasm for her future as a musician. Whether it’s through indie-pop selections or alternative R&B, incorporating a more expansive realm of her interests has aided in rekindling her passion for her art form.

“Even if it’s posting SZA covers on my story,” Nelson said, “It’s about the little ways that I can find that passion again.”