The Schedule of the Stages / Results

Congratulations to all 8 Prize Winners of our 11th Competition! We are honored to share these awards with such fabulous harpists from all over the world.

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1st Prize, Gold Medalist | Mélanie Laurent of France

Mélanie Laurent was born in 1996 in Toulouse, south of France. She grew up in a family of professional musicians who passed on the pleasure of being on stage and performing at an early age. At the age of six, she fell in love with the harp and started taking lessons at the Conservatoire de Toulouse with Dominique Piussan, her godmother. In the meantime, she was playing chamber music at home every day. She left her hometown at the age of 17 to study in Paris, first with Ghislaine Petit and then with Isabelle Moretti at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. In 2018, Mélanie received a Bachelor’s Degree with honors and she is pursuing a Master’s Degree at the same institution.

Mélanie has participated in two selective academies: the Villecroze Academy in 2015 and the Camac Academy in 2018 where she studied with Isabelle Perrin. She has also studied with Germaine Lorenzini, a regarded French teacher.

Mélanie has a thriving multidisciplinary career: she enjoys teaching and is pursuing a  pedagogy degree, she performs solo recitals, and substitutes frequently within many orchestras including Orchestre de l'Opera National de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Lamoureux, Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc, Musique des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris, among others. As an orchestral musician, she has performed in venues including the Berlin Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier, and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. In May 2018, she was invited by Jakez François to give two solo recitals at the festival ""Harpes au Max"" in Ancenis. As a chamber musician, she often performs with flute and viola, and the unusual vibraphone (“Duo Harpaphone”). Mélanie won the First Prize of the Bellan International Competition in 2017. She is supported by two granting organizations: the Tarrazi and Meyer Foundations.

2nd Prize, Silver Medalist | Valerio Lisci of Italy

Valerio Lisci was born in 1994 in Moncalieri, Italy. He has played the harp since the age of 8 when he began lessons at the Conservatorio di Torino under the tutelage of Gabriella Bosio. In 2013 he graduated with a Harp Diploma and in 2015 with a Diploma di Perfezionamento, both with maximum points and honours. He went on to study with Letizia Belmondo at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he graduated with a Masters (Concert Orientation) and received a special prize for his talent. Valerio has taken part in international competitions around the globe, winning many 1st Prizes, some from prestigious organizations such as the Reinl-Stiftung, Vienna, and the Korea International Harp Competition, Seoul. As a result he has been invited to play as a guest both as a chamber musician and soloist across Europe and Asia for events such as the Menuhin Festival, Gstaad, the Korean Harp Festival, Seoul, and various harp festivals. Valerio is generously supported by a number of foundations including the Kiefer-Hablitzel Stiftung (Bern), Jmanuel & Evamaria Schenk (Zofingen), and the CRT Foundation (Turin), in the form of scholarships and solo recitals. He made his debut as a soloist in Turin in 2014 playing Debussy’s Danse Sacrée & Danse Profane with the Camerata Ducale orchestra. Upcoming performances include Glière’s Concerto Op.74 with the Argovia Philharmonic in Zofingen, and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne in Lausanne. During his studies he was Principal Harp of the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana di Fiesole 2013-14, playing in theatres across Italy with conductors such as John Axelrod and Dietrich Paredes. He has been the harp teacher at the Scuola d'Alto Perfezionamento Musicale in Saluzzo since September 2017, home of Italy's most prestigious international harp competition. In the coming years he will produce a CD of Italian music for harp with TACTUS, and a CD in collaboration with the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne. He is working in collaboration with harpist Letizia Belmondo on an edition of unpublished music with the publishing house, UT Orpheus.

3rd Prize, Bronze Medalist | Mathilde Wauters of Belgium

Mathilde Wauters was born in Bruges, Belgium in a family of musicians. She got her first harp lessons at the age of five by her older sister Emma. After this introduction to the harp, she took lessons in the Stedelijk Conservatorium in Bruges with Eline Groslot. At the age of 15, Mathilde was admitted as young talent in the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp where she studied with Sophie Hallynck. She is currently studying with Isabelle Moretti in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Mathilde got prizes at several national and international harp competitions, such as the international Félix Godefroid competition, where she got a third prize in 2006 and a second prize in 2012. She also won the Harpegio competition in 2010 and was awarded a first prize, the EMCY prize and the award of the Union of Belgian Composers in the Belfius Classics. She won the first prize with unanimity in the Concours International Martine Géliot in 2013, and was awarded the special prize for the best interpretation of the Tournier work. This competition gave her the opportunity to record a solo disc. Mathilde has taken masterclasses with several harpists such as Germaine Lorenzini, Letizia Belmondo, Sivan Magen, Patrizia Tassini or Jana Bouskova. She has been invited to the Académie musicale de Villecroze in 2015 and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2018, where she had the chance to play under the baton of conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach or Justin Freer. Furthermore, she has orchestral experience with La Monnaie in Brussels and regularly plays with the HERMES ensemble for contemporary music. Mathilde has played solo concerts for the Arte Amanti festival and the Association Internationale des Harpistes. She forms a harp duet with her sister. Together they explore the harp duet repertoire from John Thomas to Karlheinz Stockhausen, and have played these programmes in concert halls such as Bozar in Brussels and the Concertgebouw Brugge.

4th Prize: Se Hee Hwang, South Korea
5th Prize: Woojin Lee, South Korea
6th Prize: Miriam Ruf, Germany
7th Prize: Myriam Blardone, Canada
8th Prize: Marika Cecilia Riedl, Germany

Best Concerto Performance Prize: Mathilde Wauters
Best 6th Composition Contest Performance Prize: Valerio Lisci

July 10 | STAGE III

Contestant 2: Woojin Lee | 9:00-9:50am

Contestant 12: Melanie Laurent | 10:00-10:50am

BREAK 10:50-11:10am

Contestant 15: Myriam Blardone | 11:10-12:00pm

Contestant 21: Valerio Lisci | 12:10-1:00pm

LUNCH BREAK | 1:00-2:30pm

Contestant 36: Miriam Ruf | 2:30-3:20pm

Contestant 24: Se Hee Hwang | 3:30-4:20pm

BREAK 4:20-4:40pm

Contestant 23: Mathilde Wauters | 4:40-5:30pm

Contestant 39: Marika Cecilia Riedl | 5:40-6:30pm

July 9 | STAGE II

Contestant 20: Juan Riveros | 9:00-9:35am

Contestant 23: Mathilde Wauters | 9:40-10:15am

Contestant 21: Valerio Lisci | 10:20am-10:55am

Contestant 28: Nicolette Chin | 11:05-11:40am

BREAK 11:40-12:00

Contestant 27: Marcel Cara | 12:00-12:35pm

Contestant 24: Se Hee Hwang | 12:40-1:15pm

LUNCH BREAK 1:15-2:35pm

Contestant 36: Miriam Ruf | 2:35-3:10pm

Contestant 31: Zachary Hatcher | 3:15-3:50pm

Contestant 29: Joost Willemze | 3:55-4:30pm

Contestant 39: Marika Cecilia Riedl | 4:35-5:10pm