Tamara was born with "perfect pitch" into a family of professional musicians and began violin and piano studies at age 5. She added harp lessons at age 12, and harp quickly became her primary instrument. She began steady professional work at age 18, playing solo background dinner music in downtown Portland, Oregon restaurants and hotels.
Subsequent positions, during and after college, included summers playing nightly background dinner music for the exclusive Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, where she regularly entertained the Laurance Rockefeller family and Hollywood and sports celebrities. She has been the harpist with the Boise Philharmonic, and the second harpist with the Omaha Symphony and the Lincoln Symphony in Nebraska. While in Omaha, she was involved in recording studio work as well as orchestral work including the Geoffrey Ballet and touring Broadway productions.
Since relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, Tamara has continued to work as a freelance harpist. She has performed for numerous weddings, private and corporate dinners, country club events, charity galas, memorials, open houses and other events around the Bay Area. She is often heard as a soloist and orchestra performer at the 5,000 member Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, as well as other smaller local churches. Tamara has been featured both as a soloist, and with a variety of other instruments, including piano, vibraphone, vocals, trumpet, flute, violin, and saxophone, and has played a wide variety of musical styles.
In December, 2006, Tamara released her first CD, "Collaborations", which is comprised of harp solos in addition to collaborative works with vocals, classical saxophone, piano and percussion. She appeared in recital with award-winning saxophonist Ross Leavitt in Eugene, Oregon in July 2007. Ross and Tamara are currently working on a CD comprised entirely of harp and saxophone music.