Elizabeth Volpé Bligh

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh became the 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.
Ms. Volpé's 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 Gifted Youth 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, Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, and the Island Mountain Arts Festival. Students have come from all over the world, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland, Australia and France.

Ms. Volpé has had articles published in the Teachers' Forum of the American Harp Journal, the New Zealand Harp Association newsletter, the Dutch Harp Bulletin, Harp Spectrum and Harp Column  and has given classes by video technology to students at McGill University and Calgary's Mount Royal College Conservatory, and workshops, lessons and master classes in Canada, the USA, New Zealand and China. Her compositions for solo harp, six of which will be in the new Royal Conservatory of Music Syllabus, are being taught and performed all over the world. She is currently President of the BC Chapter of the American Harp Society, a Director of the West Coast Harp Society and the Chair of the World Harp Congress Host Committee for 2011.

Outside of music, she is married to Ross Bligh and is the mother of twins, James and Katrina. Past hobbies include skiing, flamenco dancing, cooking and gardening.

Elizabeth's performances in Michael Conway Baker's Harp Concerto and Frederick Schipizky's Oboe Quintet can be heard on audio stream at the Canadian Music Centre's web site. http://www.musiccentre.ca/

 

The VSO's CD of the Korngold, Barber and Walton Violin Concertos with James Ehnes, violin, and Bramwell Tovey, conductor, won a Grammy and a Juno!

 

June, 2008: Elizabeth was a panellist on "Body Mechanics and Relaxation at the Harp" at the American Harp Society Conference in Dearborn, MI. July: attended World Harp Congress in Amsterdam, and taught at the Pacific Harp Institute in Seattle, WA.

Sept. VSO recorded National Anthems for Olympics. 

- Premiered my harp duet  arrangement  of Dvorak's  Song to the Moon from Rusalka with Blanche Olivar.