Zeena Parkins

Electro-acoustic composer/improviser, educator, Zeena Parkins is a pioneer of contemporary harp practices. Using expanded techniques, object preparations, and electronic processing she has re-defined the instrument’s capacities. Concurrently, Parkins self-designed a series of one-of-a kind electric instruments. She leans into the harp’s physical limitations pushing its boundaries and impossibilities. In her compositions, Parkins utilizes collections, historic proximities, tactility, spatial configurations and movement. Sonic presence is revealed in explorations of timbral shifts, feedback, gestural configurations, and perceptual residues.

Awards include: Guggenheim Fellowship, Doris Duke Artist Award, Berliner Kunstlerprogramm/DAAD Fellowship, Foundation for Contemporary Arts/Artist Award and FCA Emergency Grant, MAP Fund, NYFA Fellowship, Prix Ars Eletroncia/Honorary Mention, Herb Alpert/Ucross Prize and a recent (2022) Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Bard College.

Parkins has been awarded three Bessies: NY Dance and Performance Awards, for her groundbreaking work with dance. She has been devoted to her ongoing investigation and collaborative work with dance since the mid-80’s in NYC.
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In 2023, Parkins released her long-term project LACE on Chaikin to critical acclaim. (see review in The Guardian). In 2025, Parkins released two recordings in homage to her time teaching at Mills College on the west coast: Modesty of the Magic Thing on Tzadik Records and Lament of the Maker on Relative Pitch Records. Parkins taught in the Music Department at Mills College from 2011 until its closing in May/2023. She held the endowed chair, Darius Milhaud Professor of Composition.