Casper Reardon (April 15, 1907 – March 9, 1941) was an American classical and jazz harpist. He studied classical harp at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

and went on to play for the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Later on, he played jazz. The harp had been used in dance music for occasional flourishes before Reardon, but he is considered a first for using harp as a jazz instrument for solos and performances. By 1936, he was described as the "World's Hottest Harpist". During the following year he played "Cousin Caspar" in the film, ''

You're a Sweetheart ''You're a Sweetheart'' is a 1937 American musical film directed by David Butler and starring Alice Faye, George Murphy and Ken Murray. The film was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures who loaned Alice Faye from 20th Century Fox to he ...

''. In 1938, he played harp for the Broadway musical, '' I Married an Angel''. As a jazz musician he can be heard on albums by Jack Teagarden and Paul Whiteman. He recorded a handful of records for Liberty Music Shop Records and

Schirmer Records Schirmer Records was a United States based record label, active in the 1940s and 1950s. Schirmer released recordings of jazz, swing music, and classical music, by artists ranging from Eddie Condon to Rudolf Friml. See also * List of record lab ...

. He died in March 1941, in New York, at the age of 33 from kidney failure.

References

External links

* AllMusic biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Reardon, Casper 1907 births 1941 deaths American classical harpists American jazz harpists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American musicians Jazz harpists