Jillian is a proud Los Angeles native and freelance artist. She started her musical path at the age of 3 at Cal State LA through the Saturday Conservatory of Music. 27 years later, Jillian has explored multiple genres of music from all over the world. Over the course of her musical study, Jillian earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Harp Performance from California Institute of the Arts where she studied with Susan Allen & Katie Kirkpatrick and a Bachelor of Music in Performance- Harp from California State University- Long Beach where she studied with Marcia Dickstein. Her versatile style has been mentioned by LA Weekly (Hollywood Fringe Festival) where they describe her as “one who reaps musical dividends, adding to the story’s magical feeling” and her musicianship adds “delicious upstage accompaniment” – Stage and Cinema.
In the studio, Jillian has worked with critically acclaimed film composer’s Jeff Russo ( “Fargo” FX TV Series), Mark Isham (“Once Upon a Time” TV Series) and many others. Film credits include “Blue Angel” (2016), HBO Miniseries “Crime” (2016), “Papa Hemingway in Cuba” (2015), and “The Ground Beneath Their Feet” (2014), and “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story” (2010). She was a featured performing artist for PBS “Artbound Special Episode: Invisible Cities” (2015) composed and adapted by Christopher Cerrone (Pulitzer Prize Finalist), directed by The Industry’s founder and artistic director Yuval Sharon, with choreography by Danielle Agami. She was also featured in pre-recorded tracks on the green route from The Industry’s “Hopscotch”.
On stage, Jillian has collaborated with LAMC, 3-D Theatricals production of ‘Side Show’, Good People Theater Company “The Fantasticks” (Hollywood Fringe Festival) , Musical Theater West “The Wizard of Oz”, The Lewis Family Playhouse premiere of “Mirette” , and the Independent Shakespeare Company’s “Hamlet”. In the Spring of 2017, Jillian was featured in the premiere of “For Piano and Harpo” written and starring Dan Castellaneta (voice of ‘Homer Simpson’).
She is currently Principal Harpist of the West Coast Symphony, Long Beach Ballet Company, SLO Symphony (acting principal), Orchestra NOVO, Southern California Philharmonic, and The Contemporary Performance Collective. She has performed with The Industry Opera Company, WildUp, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Dana Point Symphony, Mozaic Festival Symphony Orchestra, LA Jewish Symphony, and The Hollywood Epic Brass. She has also performed with Grammy Award winning and nominated artists such as Diane Schuur, Melissa Manchester, The Irish Tenors, and the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet.
Jillian has collaborated with pop/folk rock/eclectic LA based bands/musicians such as KNOWER with Genevieve Artadi and Louis Cole, Mike Keneally, NATULA, STORMCHASER, and XYLØ. Albums she has been a featured artist; ‘Postcards from Heaven’ Susan Allen’s Last Album, “STORMCHASER”- Whitney Mikkel, and “LIFE” by knower. She is currently a member of LA Harptette – LA’s Harp Quartet.