Professor
Isabelle Perrin
After having excelled in her harp studies at the Conservatoire de Nice, Isabelle Perrin gave her first recital at the age of seventeen at the Festival Méditerranéen des Jeunes Solistes. She then continued her education at the Juilliard School of Music in New York for three years before joining the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Upon her return to France, she was chosen by the Jeunesses Musicales de France to tour throughout the country giving recitals for three consecutive seasons, thus introducing the harp to a wide audience.
Named co-principal harpist of the Orchestre National de France in 1990, Isabelle Perrin was in the same year honoured to be chosen as a participating soloist by the Menuhin Foundation and selected in 1999 as laureate of the Torneo Internazionale de Musica in Rome, Italy.
An international soloist, Isabelle Perrin is regularly invited to perform with many prestigious ensembles such as the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle, USA), the Oshawa-Durham Symphony (Canada), the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), the BBC Wales Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Ensemble Instrumental de Grenoble, the Sinfonietta de Picardie, the Maîtrise de Radio-France, and the Orchestre National de Lorraine, with which she recently performed the Ginastera concerto during an eight concerts regional tour.
Isabelle Perrin tours regularly in Europe, the United States, Africa (Tunisia, South Africa), Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and Australia. This season, her concerts and masterclasses will take her throughout Europe (France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, and The Netherlands), Russia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Japan, etc.
Isabelle Perrin’s personality has been an inspiration for many composers. Pierick Houdy – winner of the Grand Prix of Rome – wrote for her the Concerto Français for harp and orchestra, which she premiered in France with the Orchestre de Bretagne, and in America with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra (Louisiana), and which she also performed at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Bernard Andrès, a major composer for harp, dedicated his Danses d’Erzulie for harp, string orchestra and percussion to her as well, which she premiered in Cincinnati (USA) in June of 2000, and later in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) in 2001.
Isabelle Perrin has recorded several CDs under international labels such as Hortensia, Arion, Pavane, Intégral, and FIM, including a recital of works by Bernard Andrès, works for flute, viola and harp by Arnold Bax with the Turner Trio, of which she is the founding member, a world-premier recording of works for harp by F.A. Boieldieu including the famous concerto in C recorded on a period instrument, a recording of works for harp by Pierick Houdy, a SACD of an eclectic compilation of transcriptions and well-known harp repertoire and most recently a CD of the greatest French pieces by Fauré, Caplet, Roussel, Pierné, etc.
The youngest French recipient of the Certificate of Aptitude for harp pedagogy, Isabelle Perrin is the professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and gives master classes worldwide (Europe, United States, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, etc.…). She was invited to be a guest professor for two months at the prestigious Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and was recently named Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In August of 2004, as president and artistic director, Isabelle Perrin organized the 6th European Harp Symposium which took place in Lyon, France. She holds the office of vice president of the World Harp Congress, which presents an international exhibition every three years in varying countries.
Isabelle Perrin has of late been knighted by the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of her exemplary career and her involvement in the musical world.
Guest Artist
Damien Luce - pianist
Defying all labels, Damien Luce finds himself comfortably navigating between literature, composition, theater and musical performance. After completing his piano studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris under Billy Eidi and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York with Herbert Stessin, Mr. Luce has lead an active world-wide performing career, traveling between the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Mr. Luce’s creativity finds inspiration in the grey area between pre-defined categories of the arts. His suite for piano, Le Baron perché (based on the homonym novel by Italo Calvino) was performed on the French radio in May 2006. In September 2007 Mr. Luce directed and acted in a Parisian production of his first authored play, Presque trop sérieux (a title in reference to Schumann’s Kinderszene for piano). Continuing his involvement in the world of theater, Mr. Luce composed the music for and acted in Lafontaine, les animaux péstiférés (a show presenting fables by Jean de La Fontaine) in October 2009. Mr. Luce’s first novel, Le Chambrioleur (ed. Héloïse d’Ormaisson) and his first album, L’Histoire de Babar (Universal - Accord label) were released jointly in January 2010.
Jan Messerschmidt - guest speaker
Jan Messerschmidt, D.O. is a practicing internist in Traverse City Michigan. She is a graduate of the Des Moines Universtiy of Osteopathic Medicine with acute and chronic pain/joint therapy as a regular part of her daily practice. Before becoming a physician she was an exercise physiologist with a strong background in sports medicine/exercise physiology and biomechanics. Currently living near Traverse City and the Interlochen Academy for the Arts, music has become an enjoyable addition to her life.
Administrators
Sylvia Norris
Traverse City-area harp professional, Sylvia Norris, performs regularly throughout the region of Northern Michigan as well as maintaining a large private studio of students. The workshop originally came into existence through her pioneering efforts, upon being introduced to Isabelle Perrin by her student Marta, and Ms. Norris has been an integral part in the operation of the workshop since its inception.
Marta Power Luce.
Traverse City native, Marta Power Luce, began her harp studies with Sylvia Norris before moving to France, where she went on to study with Isabelle Perrin for eight years, earning her final Diplôme de Concertiste in 2008. Marta plays an important role in the workshop's continuing success.
Elizabeth Jaxon
Having first attended the workshop in 2006 and subsequently moving to Paris to study with Isabelle Perrin at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, Elizabeth Jaxon earned her Diplôme de Concertiste three years later in 2009. In enthusiastic support of the workshop, she contributes her hobby of website design to the effort as well as serving as a planning advisor.
