Grand Dame of the harp Germaine Lorenzini passed away peacefully at her home in Lyon, France, on Saturday, February 4, 2017. The news came as a sad shock to not only close friends and family but to harpists around the world. A passionately dedicated pedagogue, she touched countless lives through her teaching.
In her interview with the Harp Column (March/April 2014), Lorenzini said, “Teaching is not just something I enjoy or find interesting—it’s much more than that. I am passionate about teaching. To be able to transmit your own experience and also to discover a new person, to come to understand each of your pupils psychologically, to respect them and help them develop and evolve as individual musicians – these are incredible privileges.”
In the days following the news of Lorenzini’s death, many of her former students expressed their own tributes to her. Sandrine Chatron wrote, “She was petite in size, but rich in color. Her speech was florid, her ears sharp, her fingers expert and agile. She had a passion to discover and to transmit. With her students, she was both infinitely demanding and patient. She was funny and excessive, with her rants and her dignity. She was complex, sensitive, endearing, and generous. I will miss her, but her teaching – her quest for a free and expressive technique in service of the music, her love and respect for the harp – remains and will continue to guide my playing. Thank you, Germaine, for your inspiration and everything you have taught me.”
Read more about Germaine Lorenzini on Camac’s HarpBlog.
