Ruth Bennett is an English-American harpist based in New York. Praised by the Wall Street Journal for her “sensitive accompanying, Ruth is the newly appointed Principal Harpist of Opera Philadelphia and American Symphony Orchestra (2025), following her fifteen-year tenure as Principal Harpist of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra (Merida, Mexico).  As an orchestral musician, she frequently appears as guest harpist with leading ensembles- including the Utah Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (U.K.).  Prior to her time in Mexico, Ruth played several seasons with American Ballet Theater and toured Japan with the Metropolitan Opera. Most recently she performed with Santa Fe Opera and returns as acting Principal Harp for their 2026 season. 

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Recognized for her refined musicianship and expressive tone, Ruth is also in high demand as a chamber musician/collaborator, soloist and educator, having performed extensively throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Japan. A versatile artist, Ruth has collaborated with a wide range of classical and popular musicians including Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Meredith Monk and Bjork with whom she toured Mexico, Europe and England as part of her Cornucopia Ensemble. Actively engaged with new music, Ruth has collaborated with GRAMMY-award winning ensembles Alarm Will Sound and Talea Ensemble. During her time in Mexico, she championed the works of Mexican composers, working closely with Arturo Marquez, Gabriela Ortiz, and Javier Alvarez, and premiering several of their works. An accomplished competition laureate, Ruth won Third Prize at the Dutch International Harp Competition (2012),  First Prize at the Mexico City Harp Contest (2009), and was a consistent prize winner on a national level at the American Harp Society and American String Teachers Association between 2000-2005. As a passionate educator, Ruth served on faculty as Assistant Professor of Harp at Boston Conservatory at Berklee from 2022 to 2023, and was a guest teacher for the Young Artists Harp Seminar in 2024.  During her time in Mexico, she had the privilege of mentoring young local musicians as well as sharing her love for the harp with the public through outreach recitals and educational concerts. 

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Born into a musical and artistic family, Ruth began her studies on the piano at age 6 and later took up harp with her grandmother, a former student of Carlos Salzedo. Somewhat of a wayward harp student (only cutting her nails on lesson days), Ruth became serious about the harp, particularly the world of orchestral music, during her first year of college when she experienced playing Mahler's First Symphony. Ruth holds advanced degrees in Harp Performance from the Crane School of Music (B.M. Performance 1998), the Eastman School of Music (M.M. 20002/Performer’s Certificate) and Manhattan School of Music (Orchestral Studies diploma 2005) where she studied with Deborah Hoffman (former Principal Harp, Metropolitan Opera). She also studied with Nancy Allen (Principal Harp, New York Philharmonic) at the Aspen Music Festival. Deeply drawn to opera for its fusion of music, theater, visual art and fashion, she is also an avid textile enthusiast and enjoys making clothes in her spare time.