Pearl Chertok (June 18, 1918, in Laconia, New Hampshire – August 1, 1981 in White Plains, New York) was an internationally regarded harpist and composer for harp.
[1] After studying ballet, piano and flute as a child, Chertok forwent her senior year of high school to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Marjorie Tyre and Carlos Salzedo.
Chertok also convinced contemporary composers, including Elie Siegmeister, Nuncio Mondello, Edmund Haines, Sergiu Natra and William Mayer, to write for the harp.
Chertok was president of the American Harp Society and was on the faculty of several colleges and universities in the New York City area.
She served as judge at the International Harp Contest in Israel, and a prize named in her honor was awarded in 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1992.