Guest Masterclass: Catherine Michel and Andrew Chan, Harp

Catherine Michel was born in Amiens, where she studied the harp, piano and music theory with her mother. After her mother’s untimely passing, Pierre Jamet took the young girl under his wing and she entered the National Conservatoire for Dance and Music (CNSM) in Paris, where she was awarded a First Prize diploma at the age of 15. She won two major international awards, in Israel and the United States, as well as a Gold Medal at the Paris Competition. She joined the Radio France National Orchestra in 1971, performing under the conductors L. Maazel, P. Paray, J. Martinon, K. Böhm, S. Celibidache, L. Bernstein, M. Rostropovitch, to name but a few. In 1978 she became a harpist with the Paris Opera. Read more...

Applauded by the National Post as “a rare charisma,” Canadian harpist Andrew Chan has performed across Canada, USA, and in Asia as a solo, concerto, orchestral and chamber musician. For nine seasons, he performed successfully as Principal Harp under the baton of the late Kerry Stratton, who repeatedly featured him as a soloist performing concertos by Debussy (2014, 2018), Handel (2013, 2018), Mozart (2017 tour) and Ravel (2014).