Dee Carstensen (born February 18, 1956 in Maryland) is a New York City-based alternative music singer-songwriter and harpist.

As the daughter of Professor Dr. Edwin L. Carstensen, a biomedical engineer in University of Rochester, NY, Dee was influenced by her father and his musical talent on piano and clarinet. Dee and her four siblings began to take music lessons, with Dee first playing piano.

At the age of eight, Carstensen was selected as one of five children tapped by the Eastman School of Music's experimental program to study harp with a classical harpist from the New York Philharmonic. Although the program only lasted one year, Dee studied the harp for nine. She also developed an interest in singing and songwriting, which eventually caused her to move from the conservatory path to a career as a singer-songwriter.

Carstensen's singing and songwriting talents were discovered by vibist Mike Mainieri, who became her husband in 1993. Her debut album Beloved One, released in 1993, included guitar work by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.

Her second album, Regarding the Soul (1995), integrated her singing, songwriting and harp-playing. The Map (1998) was a collaboration with Mainieri. Their first child, Ruby Anna, was born on November 19, 2000.

Dee also recorded a children's album, Can You Hear Lullaby (2001), which featured guest vocals Everett Bradley, Curtis King and Julie Dansky and instrumental work by her husband.