BIOGRAPHY
First Prize Winner at The International Harp Contest in Israel 2022, Claudia Lucia Lamanna is the second Italian to win, after over twenty years, one of the oldest and most prestigious music competitions in the world. Her “vibrant energy” (Harp Column), “interpretative maturity” and “solid personality” (La Voce di Mantova), together with a “natural virtuosity” (La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno), make her one of the most thrilling soloists of the new generation.
She is also prize winner in over 30 international competitions in United Kingdom, Italy, Thailand, USA, France, Germany and Sweden. Semifinalist at the renowned USA International Harp Competition 2016 in Bloomington, where she also received the Zaniboni Prize awarded to the best Italian contestant in the competition, she also won the First Prize at the London Camac Harp Competition 2019, at the Claudio Abbado Prize – XI edition of the Premio Nazionale delle Arti 2015 and at the Thailand International Harp Competition 2012.
As a soloist, Claudia Lamanna toured in many venues, as Oslo Opera House, Salle Colonne in Paris, Merkin Hall in New York, Kolarac Concert Hall in Belgrade, Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall in Cardiff, Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Grande in Brescia, Norrköping Concert Hall, Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong, Tlaqná Cultural Center in Xalapa, House of Arts in Košice, Art and Culture Hall in Bangkok, and she was invited to perform in several Festivals and concert seasons, such as Classic’Antibes, World Harp Congress, California Harp Festival, International Harp Festival in Belgrade, Barletta Piano Festival, International Harp Festival “Suoni d’Arpa”, Pratté International Harp Festival, Harp on Wight International Festival, Proms at St Jude’s Festival, Thailand International Harp Festival, Wales International Harp Festival, Ancenis International Harp Festival, Unione Musicale in Turin, Fondazione Paolo Grassi in Martina Franca, Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Osaka, among others. As soloist with orchestra, she played with the Orchestre National de Cannes, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, the Slovak State Philharmonic Košice, the Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali and many others.
She released two albums, the first one with the record label Linn Records, making a harp recital built around the leitmotiv of variation, and the second one with Orchid Classics, recording Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto K.299 together with flutist Alberto Navarra and the Odense Symphony Orchestra. She also published the transcription for harp of the Variaciones del Fandango español by Félix Máximo López, which represents a totally new addition to the harp repertoire.
After her Master’s Degree with top honors at the Conservatorio di Musica “Nino Rota” of Monopoli (Italy) and one year in Erasmus Programme at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, she continued her studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, where she achieved the Artist Diploma, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she obtained the Advanced Diploma in Performance and where she was the only harpist to be selected to join the prestigious Bicentenary Scholarship scheme. She finally completed her education at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg. She was also the harpist of La Scala Academy Orchestra in Milan for 2017-2019, performing in many venues as King Fadh Cultural Center in Riyadh, Algiers Opera House, Royal Opera House in Muscat, as well as in Teatro alla Scala.
Claudia Lamanna gave masterclasses at the Royal College of Music in London, as well as in Italy, USA, Mexico, Poland, Serbia and Hong Kong, and she was invited as a jury member in international competitions in Italy, Ukraine and United Kingdom. She received numerous awards, including the Radice di Puglia Prize, the Rossetti-Montano Prize, the Ad Maiora Semper Prize, the Special Trebbio Prize, the Futuro Prize within the Sulmona Prize.