Biographies de nos artistes.

Founded in 2000 by the late Stephan-Gabriel Formhals, together with a small group of harpists, Harpissimo is to this day still closer than ever, going from strength to strength and heading towards an international career.

Stephan passed away suddenly in April 2010 and the worldwide tributes that poured in were proof, if ever it were needed, of how many lives he touched, whether working with him, exchanging a few words or assisting at one of the many concerts he directed.

We remain true to his vision and will carry on his musical vision.

1958-2010

To introduce all the musicians that have played with the Harpissimo ensemble would require a great deal more space than we have available on this site. However, the founding group that contributed to its creation is still present and their members always meet with the greatest of pleasure. But a harp ensemble doesn’t buy its score sheets in a music shop, so it often needs to create and write its own repertoire.

Sibel Jumru-Pensel won a gold medal from the Conservatoire National in the region of Nantes, then consecutively obtained the higher diploma of concertist from l’école normale de musique in Paris and the national diploma of higher musical studies (1st prize for flute with unanimous high mention) from the conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon.

A pupil of great masters such as Maxcence Larrieu, Guy Cotin, Geneviève Amar; Sibel Jumru-Pensel also works with Jean Pierre Rampal, Alain Marion and Peter Lukas Graf.

In her role as President of the Association “A Travers la flute”, which counts amongst its members the flute teachers of the Côte d’Azur, she organises pedagogic exchanges, concerts, master classes, flute festivals and especially the prestigious “Concours International de Flûte Maxence Larrieu – Nice”

Passionate about chamber music, she plays in varied formations with piano, cords, poetry, harp and with the “trio Giocoso” and the wind quartet “Nis’tanbul”.

She has recorded serveral CD’s , the most recent being :

The recital “Voyage” for flute and piano

Concertos, for flute and clarinet, of Françaix, Danzi and Sever with A. Kirmanoglu

Concertos, for two flutes, of Devienne, Cimarosa and Doppler with Maxence Larrieu

Trios from London of Haydn with the Trio Azur

Holder of the Aptitude Certificate for the flute Traversière and very much appreciated for her teaching, Sibel Kumru-Pensel welcomes flautists of various nationalities to her class at the Regional Conservatoire National à Rayonnement in Nice – Pierre Cochereau.

She takes Master classes and concerts in several countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Russia, China, United States and Ecuador.

Born in Monaco, Olivier Barriera is of Monegasque nationality. He began his musical path by studying piano from 1983 to 1994; then, influenced by his father, himself a pupil of Marceau Peyssier, he began his flute apprenticeship.

After obtaining his flute diploma at the Académie Rainier III de Monaco, he joined the Conservatoire de Région de Nice and attended the classes of Annick Deschamps. In 1998 he joined the class of Madeleine Chassang at the Paris CNR.

The following year he won first prize at the City of Paris awards after attending classes of Claude Lefebure at the conservatoire of the 10th arrondissement.
At the same time, Olivier undertook master classes in Cremone and lessons with Maxence Larrieu.

In 2001 he joined the Geneva conservatory and the following year won first prize.
He undertook master classes in Canada under Raymond Guiot and Emmanuel Pahud’s tutelage.

During these formative years, Olivier Barriera performed with French orchestras and in particular with the Monte Carlo Philarmonie as a flute Piccolo which allowed him to strengthen his training and gain experience.


At the same time, Olivier played in numerous small formation concerts in the region PACA (Provence, Alpes Maritimes et Cote d’Azur)
More recently, he has accepted to be Stephan-Gabriel Formhal’s successor as flute soloist of the Harpissimo ensemble.

SOPRANO SINGER

Born in Rome, she began her singing studies with the Soprano Claudia Pinza, then went on to study with the Soprano Luciana Serra in Switzerland, the Soprano Gabriella Tucci in Rome and with the Sopramo Jolanda Meneguzzer in Florence. She then attended Fiesole’s music academy under the guidance of Maestro Claudio Desideri with whom she perfected her studies of Mozart’s operas in roles such as Contessa and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Donna Anna and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.
In 2002 she was admitted to the International Academy of Portogruaro under the direction of Maestro Leone Magiera who went on to direct her in the role of Donna Anna in Morzart’s Don Giovanni in Tarquinia.
She performs in numerous concerts, chamber music formations and recitals for piano throughout Italy...

Fabrice Pierre

Another extremely musically gifted member is Fabrice Pierre, particularly on the harp.

A professor, holding a title of the prestigious harp class from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, Fabrice is also a sought after concert artist and a well renowned orchestra maestro in contemporary music. He is also an unparalleled arranger who knows how to write for this very particular instrument better than most.

He has already composed music for the quintet in which he plays with Patrick Gallois, the flautist. With Harpissimo, he delights in transforming the high standards of classical music and adapting these to this very particular formation. Recently he offered Harpissimo a very interesting Fantaisie Brillante on Carmen, which in 9’30 sums up one of the world’s most played Operas, much to the delight of the audiences.

Georgia Gallinari

Similarly to her friends and colleagues, Georgia started the harp with Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and she is a dedicated ground worker of the great Harpissimo family.

She participates in all the concerts, dedicating her time and energy, to sustain the group’s continuous progress. Whether on stage or in everyday life, she is the face of the group, always smiling. Winning first Prize of the City of Nice by unanimous vote, Georgia has since perfected her art and technique alongside the greatest teachers and soloists during workshops and international master classes.

She is a substitute at the Conservatoire de Nice (harp classes) and teaches harp at Villeneuve Loubet, as well as offering some “awareness to music” courses at certain schools: the young pupils do not realise how lucky they are...

Aurelie Ellul Ricci

The very young Aurélie Ellul Ricci did not have to wait very long to win medals and diplomas. At the very young age of 15 she was noticed by Marielle Nordmann at a European competition where she won first prize, and in the same year won first prize with honours at the National competition of Royaume de la Musique. In 1999 and 2000 she went on to win two first prizes by unanimous vote, first in Harp and then in chamber music. She was nicknamed “the fingers” by her colleagues as she found it so easy to assimilate the most difficult of virtuoso pieces.

Aurelie plays in numerous concerts of chamber music with flute and harp and also in harp duos with Aude Michot. She has been part of the Harpissimo ensemble from the word go and her infectious good nature as much as her musical talent make her an irreplaceable member of the group. She also teaches harp and continues her self- improvement alongside Marielle Nordmann and Nathalie Lebrun.

Sophia et Theresa Steckeler

Born in Baviera within a musical family, Sophia Steckeler began playing harp at 7 years old. She started with Gudrun Haag then studied with Helga Stork at the Munich Hoschschule fur Musik und Theather . She then went on to refine her skills with Cristina Bianchi, Isabelle Perrin and Fabrice Pierre. She obtained her soloist diploma (Meisterklassendiplom) in 2010 and then in June 2011 went on to win her chamber music prize (in the class of Harold Schilgtigl, Christoph Poppen and friedeman Berger). In September she joined Monte Carlo’s Philharmonic Orchestra as a solo harpist.

She is both part of the young Germans Orchestra, the young European union orchestra and has regularly played with the Bavarian radio’s orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) with whom she has played in some concerts directed by the greatest directors (Yakov Kreizberg, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Emmanuel Krivine, Mariss Jansons); Together with her twin sister they form a flute and harp duo which won the chamber music festival prize in Koblenz in 2009.

Mutsuko Uematsu

Mutsuko Uematsu came here, all the way from the land of the rising sun to learn harp with Elizabeth-Fontan Binoche. This young and very talented instrumentalist has an unparalleled technique and a working ability that enables her to assimilate the most difficult pieces in the shortest of time.

Winner of the biggest international competitions, she joined Harpissimo in 2003, on the occasion of her concert in Rome and everyone hopes she will stay for a long time; her marvellous personality, her unique Nippon sense of humour combined together with her musicality make her a very popular member of the group.

Graziella Vo-Perrier

Born in 1979 in Nice, Graziella Vo-Perrier studied with Elizabeth-Fontan Binoche at the CNR in Nice, then with Marielle Nordmann, Marie Claire Jamet and Judy Loman (in the United States). In 1991 first prize Lily Laskine and special prize Marielle Nordmann. Her achievements :-
1992 : first prize from the U.F.A.M
1993 : Prize winner of the first International Lily Laskine competition in Paris.
1995 : first prize winner, by unanimous vote, for Harp from the CNR in Nice with congratulations from the Jury. That same year she also won the first prize, by unanimous vote, for chamber music with congratulations of the DEM jury.
1996 : Prize from the General Council of the Alpes Maritimes region.
Graziella has performed as a soloist in Paris, Salle Gaveau, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the United States and she performed at Carnegie Hall with the Curtis Institute of music orchestra. We can also see her play alongside the Quator of the Moscow soloists and she regularly performs in concert with Philippe Bender and the Cannes soloists. She has played under the directorship of Mtislav Rostropovitch, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Charles Dutoit, Yuri Termikanov, Michael Stern and Emmanuel Plasson.
1999 to 2002 – she undertook her studies at the Curtis institute of music in Philadelphia
From 2002 to 2004 she undertook her studies at the CEFEDEM-SUD and obtained a state diploma of Harp Teacher in June 2004.

Anne-Sophie Bulla

Biographie coming soon.

Stephan-Gabriel Formhals

Founder of the group, Stephan was born on 29th June 1958 in Monaco. Exposed to music at an early age by his mother, a professional singer, he accidentally chose the flute traversière in 1966 and became at first a pupil of Claude Grognet and then of Philippe Bender, the current artistic director of the Cannes Orchestra. It was Philippe Bender that introduced him to Marielle Nordmann in 1970 and he fell for both the charms of the harp and the harpist and as a result decided to dedicate his time to both flute and harp.

But when he joined the Conservatoire de Paris in 1976, he soon realised that the environment was not in tune with the harp’s teaching but were more prone to encourage the love of the baroque and contemporary. Our flautist did not even last a week and preferred to join a preparatory class for higher school. He confined his flute to the cupboard for exactly 20 years until 1995 when he was asked to replace a flautist at the last minute for a charity concert. Gripped by stage fright he found himself playing amongst Leo Nucci, Ruggero Raimondi and Katia Ricciarelli.

That night reconnected him with his love of music and starting from scratch, bravely launched his musical career at the age of 37. His strength and self-belief paid off and it was not long before he accomplished his childhood dream, a flute and harp duo formation, gathering an amazing repertoire and repeat performances. His friendship with artists such as Caroline Haffner , Maxim Vengerov and Fazil Say, helped in opening doors along the way and Stephan soon went on to perform in major international festivals alongside prestigious orchestras.