From a very young age, Isabelle Perrin has been passionate about the harp. She began her training at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, then continued her studies at the Juillliard School of Music in New York before joining the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and later on the Orchestre National de France as co-principal harpist during 25 years.

An international soloist, Isabelle Perrin is regularly invited to play with prestigious ensembles such as BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, the Soloists of Zagreb, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, the Shanghai Chamber Orchestra, as well as numerous French orchestras, including the Orchestre national de France, the Orchestre national d’Ile-de-France, the Orchestre national de Lille, the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse among others.

Bernard Andrès has dedicated his Danses d’Erzulie for harp, string orchestra and percussion to her. This piece was world premiered in Cincinnati, USA and the European Premiere was given in Amsterdam a year later. In 2008, Isabelle Perrin explored for the first time the “Blue Harp” (an electronic harp associated with a computer) in Katowice, Poland, with the Concertino South Shore for Blue Harp and Orchestra written especially for her by Elzbieta Sikora and performed in different places, among them Taïwan.

Isabelle has recorded a number of CDs, including one highlighting the works of Bernard Andrès, original works by Arnold Bax for flute, viola and harp, a world premiere recording on a single action harp of François-Adrien Boieldieu’s works, including the Sonata and the famous Concerto in C Major as well as one of Pierick Houdy’s pieces for harp and miscellaneous instruments, among them the Concerto Français which he dedicated to her. She has also recorded a Super Audio CD of favorite repertoire pieces; a recital of the most famous French impressionist works for harp and a second Bernard Andrès CD with Mexican harpist Baltazar Juarez as well as a CD of both Johann Sebastian and Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach.

In addition to her career as a soloist, Isabelle Perrin has been harp professor at the Conservatoire national de region in Nantes, France, the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in 15 years and is now harp professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo (Norway) as well as the head of the strings department. She has given master-classes throughout Europe, Russia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Mexico and haft taught as a guest professor all over the world.

In August of 2004, Isabelle Perrin was the organizing president and artistic director of the 6th European Harp Symposium in Lyon, France. Her engagement in the worldwide harp community continues today; Isabelle Perrin is now the new Artistic Director of the World Harp Congress, which organizes an international harp festival every three years in a different country, the last one held in Hong Kong in July 2017 and the next one being in July 2020 in Cardiff.

In recognition of her exemplary career and her musical commitment, Isabelle Perrin was admitted to the Knighthood of the Order of Arts and Letters. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.