The USA International Harp Competition presents

Mélanie Laurent, harp, with Luke Hsu, violin

Laureate Recital
July 3, 2022 | 2:00 P.M.
 Auer Hall
Indiana University, Bloomington

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(+$8 service fee)
$25 - General Admission
$15 - Student Admission

Mélanie Laurent, harp

French harpist Mélanie Laurent is the Gold Medal Winner of the 2019 11th USA International Harp Competition. She is also the winner of the Bellan International Competition (2017).

Mélanie was born into a family of professional musicians. She studied with Isabelle Moretti at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, graduating with highest honors in 2020. She now pursues a thriving multidisciplinary career; she enjoys teaching, performing solo concerts, and working with many orchestras. These include the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, and in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra Bastille, Opéra Garnier, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

As a soloist, she has been invited to prestigious festivals around the world. She has played solo recitals and concertos at the Mito Settembre Musica festival, at the Lago Maggiore festival, at Piano Pic festival, at l’Instrumentarium Paris, among others. During summer 2021, she toured with the renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon. Recently she performed Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with Joséphine Poncelin and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Debussy’s Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane with the Ensemble K at Dubai Opera (United Arab Emirates). Her performance with Ensemble K was broadcast on the global Mezzo TV channel.

Her sensitivity and her “golden touch,” hailed by the Harp Column Magazine, allowed her to win the support of the Banque Populaire Foundation. She is also supported by the Fonds de Tarrazi, the Meyer Foundation, and the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.

Luke Hsu, violin

Award-winning violinist Luke Hsu is the Bronze Medalist of the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and is hailed as “in a class by himself with total command of the instrument” by the Montréal Gazette. As a soloist and recitalist, Luke has appeared at many of the world’s most illustrious performance halls including Wigmore Hall, Windsor Castle and the Kennedy Center, with orchestras including the Orchestre National de la Belgique, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova Orchestra and the Dallas, Indianapolis, Auckland and Odense symphony orchestras.

He has collaborated with eminent conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Nikolaj Znaider and Hugh Wolff. He has performed for royalty around the world including His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex Prince Edward and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.

Luke has won prizes at several prestigious violin competitions including the Paganini, Wieniawski, Isang Yun, Nielsen and Queen Elisabeth competitions. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with luminaries including Gil Shaham, Marc-André Hamelin, and musicians from the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His festival appearances include Pablo Casals Festival, Verbier, and La Jolla SummerFest. He is currently Artistic Advisor for Music at the K&M Festival in Stavanger, Norway.

As a composer, Luke has written numerous chamber works, and cites Lutosławski and Webern as his biggest influences.

Luke made his debut with the Houston Symphony at age 16 and later studied with Cho-Liang Lin at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, and Rodney Friend at the Royal Academy of Music. He currently studies with Pierre Amoyal at the Mozarteum.