Quick Facts
Biography
Heidi Lehwalder (born in Seattle, Washington in 1949) is an American classical harpist. She is internationally renowned as one of the world's greatest harp prodigies, and as the final student of master Carlos Salzedo. Leonard Bernstein said of her, "...The main thing to tell you about Heidi is that she is simply a genius," in his notes for the Young People's Concerts. She was the first recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Heidi was given a harp at the age of seven by her mother, who was a cellist with the Seattle Symphony, and Heidi made her debut performing with the Seattle Symphony at nine.She studied with Carlos Salzedo at his music colony in Camden, Maine for two summers beginning in 1960, and it was Salzedo who encouraged her to play in The International Harp Contest in Israel in 1962. She currently plays on Salzedo's own harp.
On December 23, 1963, Lehwalder appeared on Leonard Bernstein’s Young People's Concerts on CBS at the age of 14.
Lehwalder has performed as a soloist with more than sixty-five orchestras throughout the United States, and has been a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as well as numerous music festivals. She teaches masterclasses internationally, including at the Juillard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the 12th World Harp Congress in Sydney, Australia. She is the founder and was the director of the Fredericksburg Festival of the Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia as well as the Chamber on the Mountain Series in Ojai, California.
Discography
- 2014 - Forever is Composed of Nows (Crystal Records)
- 2006 - Orpheus Trio plays Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Devienne (Vanguard Classics)
- 1995 - Impressions (RCA Victor Red Seal)
- 1989 - Ceremonies of Carols: Works by Britten, Poulenc, and Respighi (RCA Legacy)
- 1983 - Scintillation – Music for the Harp (Nonesuch)
- 1980 - Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp; Syrinx for Solo Flute; Ravel Sonatine en Trio; Faure Impromptu for Harp Op. 86; Devienne Duo III for Flute and Viola (Vanguard Audiophile Recording)