1st Contest 1959 – Susanna Mildonian, Belgium

Susanna Mildonian, First Prize Winner of the 1st International Harp Contest in Israel was born in Venice in 1940 of Armenian parents. She studied harp with Margherita Cicognari at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatoire in her native city where she obtained the first prize in 1959. In 1962, further studies with Pierre Jamet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris were again rewarded with a first prize.

Suzanna Mildonian is the only harpist ever to win a first prize in the three most important International Harp Competitions :
1959 in the International Music Competition in Israel;
1964 at the International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland, with a unanimous decision from the jury;
1971 at the International Competition “Marcel Tournier” in Paris.

It was also in Paris that she was awarded the prestigious “Grand Prix du Disque”

From the age of 14, Suzanna Mildonian has been performing in Italy and abroad. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York in 1972. She was performed with many leading orchestras all over the world and has given recitals in Europe, the United States, Japan, Russia, Korea and Taiwan.

Suzanna Mildonian was professor of harp at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels; she also teaches at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Ms. Mildonian was a member of the International Jury of the 50th Anniversary International Harp Contest in Israel in 2009.