Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 2:30pm
Shorecrest High School Performing Arts Center ($15-$25)
15343 25th Ave NE, Shoreline 98155
Valerie Muzzolini, harp
Alberto Ginastera: Estancia Suite, op. 8a
Alberto Ginastera: Harp Concerto, op. 25
Joaquín Turina: Sinfonia sevillana
Both composers showcased in our Latin concert explored their national culture through the use of folkloric themes. The Estancia (ranch) suite by the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera celebrates the Argentine gaucho (cowboy) on the grassy South American plains, while his Harp Concerto modernizes rhythms from the Argentinian malambo dance. The concerto will be brought to life by Seattle Symphony harpist Valerie Muzzolini Gordon. Rounding out the concert, Turina’s Sinfonia Sevillana paints a picturesque scene of the Spanish countryside.
Born in Nice, France, Valerie Muzzolini began to study harp at age seven and made her first national television appearance when she was nine years old. At age twenty-three, she was appointed to her current position as principal harpist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. At age 19, she was acting principal harpist for the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to perform as a guest with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philhamonique de Radio-France, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Valerie has been invited to perform at festivals around the world, including Tanglewood and Verbier, Switzerland, and has worked with such renowned conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Mazur, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink and Andris Nelsons. She is also a very active chamber musician and dedicated educator both in her position as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Washington and privately.
She studied at the Nice National Conservatory with renowned pedagogue Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, where she graduated with top honors in 1994. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Marilyn Costello and Judy Loman, she attended Yale University as a student of Nancy Allen.
