biography

Edie Eileen Elkan

Edie Eileen Elkan, a lifelong musician and teacher, founded BEDSIDE HARP®, a first-ever hospital hosted harp therapy program, in February 2002 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, in Hamilton, New Jersey. She plays for patients, teaches, mentors, supervises, creates and directs all of the organization's offerings at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton as well as at three other hospitals: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway, NJ, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ, and Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, PA, and at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where certification students can receive ten college music credits. BEDSIDE HARP® and Edie have been featured on NBC's Today Show, in The New York Times, The Nursing Spectrum, The Star Ledger and a number of other local television and radio programs and newspapers. Edie studied classical harp with Mary Ann Castaldo (1960 to 1963), Marilyn Costello (1963 to 1965) and Elizabeth Hainen (1996 to 2002). Majoring both in harp and music education, she attended The Philadelphia Musical Academy (now, the University of the Arts) from 1963 to 1965. Edie returned to school later in life and holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Thomas Edison State College (2007), a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania (1988), and an Associate of Arts from Bucks County Community College (1985).