Olja Kaiser (Harp)

Born: Russia

The Russian harpsist, Olja Kaiser, began to study the harp at the age of 5. She completed her studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where she graduated with distinction. She furthered her professional abilities by participating in master-classes given by Isabelle Perrin, David Watkins, Susanna Mildonian, Chantal Mathieu and Isabelle Moretti. She also learned Baroque harp playing at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel). In her youth she was already appearing internationally as a soloist and in chamber music recitals. She has won prizes in the Concorso Internazionale Premio Rovere d’Oro in San Bartolomeo al Mare in Imperia (Italy) and the Concert Artists Guild Music Competition in New York.

In addition to appearing in festivals (e.g. Pacific Music Festival, Abu Dhabi Classical Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Moselfestwochen, Mecklenburgischer Musiksommer, Musikwoche Bad Wörishofen, Rheingau Musikfestival), Olja Kaiser has toured throughout Europe, the USA, Japan, China and Hong Kong. She regularly plays in solo concerts with symphony orchestras and chamber orchestras including the Moscow State Chamber Orchestra, Cologne Youth Philharmonic and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She was engaged as the principal harpist in the Gorky Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Great Hall Symphony, the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra, the Philharmonia Hungarika and at the Apollo Theater in Stuttgart, prior to pursuing her solo career. She is regularly invited to perform as principal harpist with many symphony and chamber orchestras, e.g.: Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Moscow Radio 1 Symphony Orchestra, Bolshoi Theater Ballet, Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Mannheim, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Her experience playing in opera and ballet orchestras in Germany includes the following opera houses: Mannheim, Darmstadt, Saarbrücken, Freiburg, Koblenz, Kaiserslautern and Heidelberg.

Olja Kaiser has been an assistant to Professor O. Erdely at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, she has taught at the Prokofiev Music School in Moscow and at a conservatory in Luxembourg. She was a member of the jury for the German competition "Jugend musiziert".

Due to her many worldwide appearances as solo harpist as well as in chamber music recitals, including radio and television recordings, Olja Kaiser is one of the most active and many facetted harpists of her generation.

Source: Olja Kaiser Website; K&K Art Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (March 2011)

Olja Kaiser: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Olja Kaiser - Harp (Official Website) [multi-lingual]

Concert for Harp & Organ (K&K Art)