Elizabeth Volpe BlighHarp


Testimonials

On Compositions & Orchestra Arrangements

I love Ms Volpé’s book. I've been studying it now for a couple of days and find it both challenging and very interesting. - Bette Geisreiter

Your rearrangement of this passage is ingenious. I just tried it and it works very well. Brava!!! - Rosalind Beck (principal harpist of the Florida Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1993, currently principal harpist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra)

I am always so grateful for your help with marked parts! - Alice Freeman, Wyoming

Our book arrived & it is really impressive. If I were teaching, I would definitely use it as an important tool. Your technical clarifications are wonderful & I really liked the personal touch with good humour in your descriptions of the pieces. There is a real need for material of intermediate difficulty that helps build technique without boredom. I hope you have much success with this publication. Thanks for sending! - Erica Goodman

Thanks so much Elizabeth! You are a wonder and I'm so impressed with what you did with orchestral parts. - Judy Loman

On Playing

You are a beautiful player, love your tone! And I really like your Downstairs Spider piece. - Rosemary O’Carroll, Hobart, Tasmania

Very fine playing indeed! All around! - Sebastien Lipman, Principal Harp, Berlin Philharmonic 1985-1992, Faculty of Music, Brisbane, Australia

Thanks for playing my music so musically last night! - Scott Good, Composer in residence, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

I really like your interpretation (of Songs of Nymphs). - Marjan Mozetich, composer

...Tricky passages for low harp spoke with unparalleled purity and subtlety.- David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 29, 2012 (about Mahler's 4th Symphony performance at the Chan Centre with the VSO, B. Tovey conducting)

On Teaching

From watching her performances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and studying with her both privately and at the University of British Columbia, I have always admired Ms. Volpé’s exceptional orchestral skills. Her approach to the orchestral literature is the most logical, intelligent, and effective. I am very grateful to have had Ms.Volpé as my mentor and her continuous advice. Her optimistic, humorous, and warm-hearted personality has also inspired me as a human being. She is my great example when I teach. -Andrew Chan, Toronto, Ontario

I'd like to give a quick thank-you for your numerous helpful and unfailingly generous replies, both on the List and the Harp Column. They are immeasurably useful to the harp community on both sides of the Atlantic. -Bonnie Shaljean, recording artist, Ireland

Some of the highlights were the stellar master classes by Sebastien Lipman and Elizabeth Volpé Bligh... - Alison Austin, Pacific Harp Institute, Glissando newsletter Summer 2007

The day was considered very successful by everyone and I've had very good feedback from those I've spoken to. Thank you for all your patient and helpful comments to players. They all seemed to have a good sense of achievement and if your suggestions are absorbed I am sure all will benefit greatly...Thank you so much for your generosity with your time and expertise - it has given us all quite a lift. - Rebecca Harris, Auckland Symphony Orchestra

I want to thank you so much for all the help you gave me, and even though I only had a couple of lessons from you, I will always remember them. You made a huge impression on me. - Sharone Stevenson

Thank you for offering your time and expertise. You have done an amazing amount of research into the subject, and I am so glad that you were on the panel and willing to share your knowledge. You were an integral part of the whole discussion. - Kerstin Allvin

Thank you for all that you did this year at CISHI! I really enjoyed it and am so grateful to all of you for making a programme like this for us. Thank you also for the inspiring lessons you taught me! - Phoebe Powell

I am truly blessed to have worked with you this summer. Your kind-hearted and lively spirit has really brightened my musical world. Listening to your expression has opened my ears. This has been a wonderful experience. - Yvonne Cox

I really enjoy the VSO School of Music masterclass and I really look forward to the classes. I have to admit that although I download all the sheet music for all the classes as soon as you send the dropbox link, I don’t really look at each week’s music ahead of time because when I come to class, it’s like opening Christmas gifts – it’s so fun to see the surprise of what we’re actually going to play that class. Although I’ve been playing harp for awhile, I learn something new every class. I think my biggest AHA moments was learning the different options for fingerings, many of which I haven’t tried before. - Grace Petrowski