ISABELLE PERRIN, principal guest instructor
French harpist and international performing artist.
After having excelled in her harp studies at the Conservatoire de Nice, Isabelle Perrin gave her first recital at the age of seventeen at the Festival Méditerranéen des Jeunes Solistes.
She then continued her education at the Juilliard School of Music in New York for three years before joining the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Upon her return to France. She was named co-principal harpist of the Orchestre National de France in 1990.
An international soloist, Isabelle Perrin is regularly invited to perform with many prestigious ensembles such as the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle, USA), the Oshawa-Durham Symphony (Canada), the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), the BBC Wales Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Maîtrise de Radio-France, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, etc.
Isabelle Perrin’s personality has been an inspiration for many composers. Pierick Houdy – winner of the Grand Prix of Rome – wrote for her the Concerto Français for harp and orchestra. Bernard Andrès, a major composer for harp, dedicated his Danses d’Erzulie for harp, string orchestra and percussion to her as well.
Isabelle Perrin has recorded several CDs under international labels such as Hortensia, Arion, Pavane, Intégral, and FIM.
The youngest French recipient of the Certificate of Aptitude for harp pedagogy, Isabelle Perrin is the professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and gives master classes worldwide (Europe, United States, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Mexica, etc.…). She was invited to be a guest professor for two months at the prestigious Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and was recently named Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
In August of 2004, as president and artistic director, Isabelle Perrin organized the 6th European Harp Symposium which took place in Lyon, France. She holds the office of vice president of the World Harp Congress, which presents an international exhibition every three years in varying countries.
Isabelle Perrin has of late been knighted by the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of her exemplary career and her involvement in the musical world.
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MARIA LLUÏSA IBÁÑEZ, guest lecturer
Catalan harpist of great importance in Spain’s harp community.
Maria Luisa Ibáñez studied harp, piano and harmony at the Conservatory of Music of Barcelona, where she received the Honor Award for harp, harmony and music theory.
She has been a member of several ensembles including the first trio of harps in Catalonia, the Catalan Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Diabolus in Musica, the Bertrand Trio and the Harp Sextet “Rosa Barcells”, which she founded in 1994.
Composers such as Carles Puértolas Xavier Boliart, Teresa Borrás, Javier Codina and Francisco Fleta have written for her and her groups.
Drawing from her expertise in the fields of harp, harmony, counterpoint and the transcription of manuscripts, she has recently produced her own cadenzas for the Mozart, Handel and Albrechsberger concertos, and numerous transcriptions for harp and for harp and guitar.
Her obvious passion for teaching brought her, from a young age, the position as harp professor at the Music Conservatory of Barcelona. Her commitment to pedagogy incited the government of Catalonia to commission her to help develop the new music education program.
BERTA PUIGDEMASA ACEBRÓN, workshop organizer
Harpist and adventurer from Horta de Lleida.
Originally from Horta de Lleida, Berta Puigdemasa Acebrón has spent the past six years living outside of Spain. Despite her ventures to other places in Europe, Horta de Lleida will always be her home.
At the age of 7 she asked her parents to let her play the harp, but this wouldn’t be possible until five years later because there was no harp teacher in Lleida. When she was 12 she started her harp studies in Barcelona with Maria Lluïsa Ibáñez. At the age of 16, at a summer masterclass in France, she met Isabelle Perrin. It was in that moment that she knew this was the professor with whom she would continue her adventure with the harp. And that’s how it happened!
An autumn day, over an orange juce with her mother and father, Berta thought it would be great to gather harpists from all over the world in the little paradise of Horta de Lleida, for a few days, to work together and enjoy the fresh air.