Letizia Belmondo

Born in Turin in 1981, Letizia Belmondo began to study the harp at the age of eight at the Suzuki Talent Center in Turin. From 1989, she continued her studies with Gabriella Bosio at the «G. Verdi» Conservatoire in Turin and in 1998, obtained her diploma for the harp. Thanks to a study scholarship from the Associazione per la Musica De Sono, Letizia Belmondo continued her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon under the supervision of Fabrice Pierre, then with Nancy Allen at The Julliard School in New York. She also had the opportunity to participate in masterclasses and to study with Judith Liber. Her musical training is also enriched from studying the cello, which she started at the age of five and which she continued with Antonio Mosca at the «G. Verdi » Conservatoire in Turin until 1999.

In February 2001, at just nineteen years of age, Letizia Belmondo won first prize at the prestigious International Harp Contest in Israël, as well as the Ester Herlitz Prize awarded for the best performance of a contemporary piece. She also won numerous competitions and prizes, including the International Harp Competition in Lausanne and special prize for the best performance of the Prélude by Jolivet, the Franz Schubert Competition, the Martine Geliot Competition, the Third Grand Prix at the Lily Laskine Competition, the Società Umanitaria Competition, the Rovere d’Oro Prize and the Victor Salvi Competition.

Since her international debuts with the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin and at the Wigmore Hall in London, she has gained much success and recognition in Europe and in the United States. As a soloist, she appears with the RAI Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale in Turin, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Mozart Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the batons of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Bertrand de Billy and Claudio Abbado. From 2005 to 2012, Letizia Belmondo was the solo harpist in the orchestra of the Opéra Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and played under the baton of conductors such as Kazushi Ono, Maurizio Benini, Carlo Rizzi and Adam Fisher. She is regularly invited by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, conducted till recently by Claudio Abbado.

For Egan Records, she recorded her first CD, Harp Recital in 2002, then in 2006, the Concertos for Harp by Glière and Zabel and the Piano Concerto No. 6 KV 238 by Mozart, transcribed for harp, with the Warsaw Radio Orchestra. In 2008, she was invited by Claudio Abbado to record the Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra by Mozart for Deutsche Grammophon with flautist, Jacques Zoon.

In 2014, for the label Tactus and with the Hungarian pianist, Zsolt Czetner, she recorded a CD of some previously unreleased works for solo harp and harp and piano by Giovanni Caramiello.

Letizia Belmondo is regularly invited to give masterclasses in Europe and in the United States. She is a member of the jury for many international and prestigious harp competitions, notably the International Harp Contest in Israël and the Lily Laskine Competition in Paris.

From 2006 to 2008, she was the assistant of Fabrice Pierre at the CNSMD in Lyon. In June 2011, Letizia Belmondo was appointed Professor of Harp at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne.

web-site: www.letiziabelmondo.com