While most children would become enamored with the ballerinas in their fanciful costumes; Elizabeth Hainen couldn’t take her eyes off the orchestra. Hainen attended a performance and sat near the orchestra pit, as the evening went on, she became mesmerized by the harpist.

Hainen, who came from a musical family, and already had training on the piano and violin, decided she wanted to learn to play the harp.

Since her Nutcracker introduction to the instrument, Hainen has gone on to hold a very impressive resume. She served as a principal harpist for the Kennedy Center’s orchestra, as well as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, before spending the past 13 seasons as principal harpist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist through the United States, Europe, Asia and South America and has served in faculty positions at both the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and Temple University.

Within the past few years, she founded the Lyra Society Fund to spread the knowledge of the harp. Contributions to the non-profit assist composers and students, commission compositions and public performances, maintain and repair harps in schools, mentor young harpists and provide scholarships for the next generation of professional harpists.

It is the next generation of harpists Hainen was thinking of when she opened the doors to the Saratoga Harp Colony three years ago.

Spending time in Saratoga during her summer residency with the orchestra, she immediately thought of the city when she considered founding a harp training school to try and fill the void when the long-running Salzedo Colony closed its doors. Named for and founded by Carlos Salzedo, the Salezdo Colony trained aspiring harpists in Camden, Maine, since 1931. After Salzedo passed away in 1961, his predecessor, Alice Chalifoux, former principal harpist of the Cleveland Orchestra, took over until she retired a few summers ago.

“I felt that geographically and just for the pure beauty of the area, Saratoga would be an ideal place,” said Hainen. “It is also a very rich cultural playground for classical music because of the orchestra.”

The three-week program occurs each summer during the orchestra’s residency at SPAC.

During the session, students receive private lessons, weekly masterclasses, mock orchestra auditions, attend orchestra performances at SPAC and perform in weekly public recitals. The entire program culminates at a gala performance and reception at the Palazzo Riggi. Attendees are trained for harp ensemble and orchestra/competitions and study 15-minute memorized program from the major solo harp repertoire and 2-4 harp parts/or cadenzas from the major orchestral repertoire.

This year, the Colony, which is based in Skidmore, has 15 students, their largest class yet. Hainen, however, notes that she would likely never exceed 20, allowing for a more personal experience for each student.

There is no maximum or minimum age for attendees; the majority of the students have been primarily high school and college aged. This year, though, there is an 11-year old aspiring harpist and last year saw a 48-year old harpist. Students in this session have traveled from Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Bogota, Colombia.

Hainen met 14-year-old Juan Blanco, the only male in this season’s session, when she was engaged to perform the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with the National Orchestra of Colombia in Bogota.

“He came and played for me after the concert,” said Hainen. “I was very taken by him and his natural musicality and ability with the instrument. We kept up a dialog and I said it would be really nice for him to come to Saratoga.”

Hainen also kept in touch with Blanco’s mother and after much letter-writing and sorting out Visas and plans, Blanco was able to join the Colony this year.

“It has really been a joy to have him here,” said Hainen. “He’s been enjoying it tremendously and I think he enjoys being the only guy and having all these lovely girls around him.”

The Colony’s final public concert will be held Saturday, Aug. 18, 2 p.m. at the Filene Recital Hall, Skidmore College. For more information, call 580-5000.