Biography
Elizabeth Volpé Bligh became the Grammy-winning Vancouver Symphony's Principal Harpist in 1982, after six seasons as the Principal Harpist of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. A graduate of University of Toronto's Bachelor of Music program in 1975, she studied with Judy Loman (Toronto Symphony), Alice Chalifoux (Cleveland Orchestra) and Edna Phillips (Philadelphia Orchestra). She also attended master classes with Osian Ellis, Nancy Allen, Heidi Lehwalder and Cheryl Ann Fulton. Her career includes concerto performances with the VSO and other orchestras, chamber music concerts, movie soundtracks and recordings. She is featured in The Greater Vancouver Album, a collection of works by Michael Conway Baker, and performed his Harp Concerto, written for her, first with the Orchestra of the Kootenays, then the VSO. Through the years, some comments from reviews include: “one of the best harpists in the world” (Nigel Barbour), “a harpist of great skill” (Ray Chatelin), “achingly lovely playing” (Michael Scott), “ensemble and musicianship was spectacular” (Howard Jang), “very fine playing” (Sebastien Lipman, former harpist of Berlin Philharmonic).
Many of Elizabeth's students have won awards such as the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, Edith Lando Scholarship, and RCM Silver Medal, and four students have been members of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Her teaching career has included private students and institutions such as the Vancouver Academy of Music, UBC, Trinity Western, Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, Pacific Harp Institute, and the Island Mountain Arts Festival. Students have come from all over the world, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and France. Her articles have been published in the Teachers’ Forum of the American Harp Journal, New Zealand Harp Association newsletter, Dutch National Harp Journal and on various internet sites. She has taught workshops, lessons and master classes in Vancouver, Ottawa, Seattle, Beijing and Shanghai in China and Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand, including two video classes to students at McGill University and Calgary’s Mount Royal College Conservatory. She was a panelist at the American Harp Society Conference in Dearborn, MI. Her compositions for solo harp, six of which are in the Royal Conservatory of Music Harp Syllabus, are being performed all over the world. She is President of the BC Chapter of the American Harp Society and the Chair of the Host Committee for the 11th World Harp Congress in 2011. She adjudicates harp festivals throughout Canada, and will be judging the finals at the OSM Standard Life Competition in 2010.
Outside of music, she is married to Ross Bligh and is the mother of twins, James and Katrina. Her hobbies include skiing, sailing, flamenco dancing, and cooking.
For further information, see www.elizabethvolpebligh.com.
Education
-graduated from University of Toronto, 1975, BMus in Performance
-harp teachers: Judy Loman (Toronto Symphony)
Alice Chalifoux (Cleveland Orchestra)
Edna Phillips (Philadelphia Orchestra)
-master classes with:
Ossian Ellis (London Symphony)
Nancy Allen
Heidi Lehwalder
Cheryl Ann Fulton (early music)
- National Youth Orchestra of Canada 1973 and 1975
Areas of Expertise
Harp
Courses Taught at TWU
Applied Music Lessons - Harp