WINNER OF THE DUTCH MUSIC PRIZE 2009

As if the multicolored strings were her canvas, Lavinia Meijer of the Netherlands ”finger painted” her musical montage,  rocking back and forth against her harp in rhythms of lively expression.

-Herald Times

Lavinia Meijer (1983) is recognized worldwide as one of the most promising rising stars of the moment. Born in Korea and adopted into a dutch family, she is now based in the Netherlands. She studied under the guidance of Erika Waardenburg at the conservatories of Utrecht and Amsterdam, where she received her Bachelor and Masters degrees of Music with the highest distinction. Since then she has toured as a solo-harpist across Europe, America and Asia, showing the many possibilities of the harp as a solo-instrument.

From a young age on, she has won several important music prizes, such as first prize at the Dutch Harp Competition in the Netherlands, first prize at the International Harp Competition in Brussels, a second prize at the International Harp Competition in Vienna and a third prize at both the International USA Harp Competition and the International Harp Competition in Israel. Special awards have been given to her, such as the MeesPierson award and the Vriendenkrans of the Royal Concertgebouw from Amsterdam and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust from London. In 2009 she won the Dutch Music Prize, which is the highest distinction for a classical musician in the Netherlands.

She has inspired several composers to write new music for her, composers such as Carlos Michans, Jacob ter Veldhuis, Garrett Byrnes and Hans Zender. Besides performing the standard harp repertoire, she also experiments with electronic music, theatrical music and jazz. She has followed masterclasses not only with renowned harpists like Jana Bouskova, Isabelle Moretti, Daphne Boden, Natalia Shameyva, Maria Graf, Skaila Kanga and Susann McDonald, but also with other musicians, such as Ton Koopman (harpsichord), Anner Bijlsma (cello), Willem Brons (piano) and Theo Olof (violin). Her broad interest and diversity of performance has made her a frequent guest at world harp congresses. She also appeared on several tv shows and radio programs. As a featured soloist she performed harp concertos with renowned orchestras, such as the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Residence Orchestra of the Hague and the Israel Philharmonics. She made her debut in Carnegie Hall, New York in December 2007, where she was invited to perform a harp solo-evening.

In 2008 she recorded her solo-CD “Divertissements” with record company Channel Classics (works by Salzedo, Caplet and Ibert). In 2009 she recorded with Channel Classics her next solo-CD “Visions” (works by Britten, Patterson, Byrnes, Yun and Takemitsu).

”My goal is to make the harp better known as a solo-instrument, with all its possibilities, which are often still unknown with the wider audience”, Lavinia Meijer