Biography

Harpist Esther Beyer is in the first year of her Master of Music degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Karen Vaughan, where she recently won the inaugural Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Prize, the final of which was held at Wigmore Hall. Other recent competition success includes reaching the final of the Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award (to be held September 2020) and being very highly commended in both the prestigious RAM Club Prize (2019) and RAM Guy Magrath Harp Prize (2019).

A passionate orchestral musician, Esther has worked under the batons of renowned conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardener and Ilan Volkov, and has premiered works by Tansy Davies, Unsuk Chin and Iris ter Schiphorst. Esther has played in many major venues across the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Sage Gateshead, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican and Leeds Town Hall. She has performed in masterclasses with acclaimed harpists such as Isabelle Moretti, Sylvain Blassel, Milda Agazarian and Isabelle Perrin. Notable solo highlights include playing for HRH The Duchess of Cornwall on the Royal Harp at Clarence House.

Esther is also an avid chamber musician and is having particular success with her flute and harp ensemble, the Equinox Duo, who are performing regularly across England. Recent appearances include the Barnes Music Festival Young Artists Programme (2019), and a recital of recent works for flute and harp at the RAM, including a new commission by postgraduate composer, David Nunn. Excited by contemporary music, the duo hope to continue commissioning new music for the ensemble, working with emerging composers and broadening the repertoire for the duo combination.

She is a grateful recipient of a Wolfson Foundation Grant (2018), which allowed her to purchase her Salvi Iris harp. Her studies at the Royal Academy of Music are generously supported by Help Musicians UK and The Musicians’ Company.

Award: Musicians’ Company Award 2020

Page updated 18 December 2020