Chantal Mathieu

Chantal Mathieu
Chantal Mathieu

Chantal Mathieu, harpist

Chairperson of the International Jury

France

 

1st prize unanimously at the Conservatoire de Paris at 14, then 1st prizes at the famous Israel International Harp Contest and at the Concours International de la Guilde, Paris, 2prize at the Geneva Concours International d’Exécution Musicale, Chantal Mathieu, born in Lille (France) leads a brilliant international career. Guest of the best orchestras including Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, London Sinfonietta, NDR Sinfonie Orchester, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, she also performs extensively solo and chamber music.

Passionate of contemporary music, Chantal Mathieu premiered numerous works dedicated to her by composers such as Franco Donatoni, J.-M. Damase, J.-F. Zbinden, B. Andres, J. Meier, M. Jarrell, whilst transcribing many pieces, notably by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach. Her numerous CDs released under several labels show the richness of her repertoire.

Chantal Mathieu worked in Germany for a while (Principal Harpist in the Norddeutscher Sinfonie Orchester Hamburg and Professor at the Hamburg Musikhochschule) before settling in Geneva. She taught harp and chamber music at the High School of Music in Lausanne for over 30 years. Most of her students now hold important positions within the musical world.

In addition to these activities, Chantal Mathieu was a member of the Founding Committee of the Swiss Harp Association in 1988 and President from 1990-1996. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the World Harp Congress which had chosen her to be Chairman of the 8th World Harp Congress 2002 in Geneva.

Graduate 1915 in Arts’ medicine in Paris, Chantal Mathieu is currently President of the Association Internationale des Harpistes et Amis de la Harpe. In parallel, she pursues her career as interpreter and teacher in Masterclasses throughout the world, while enriching her discography containing more than 20 CDs.