Harpist-composer Caroline Lizotte received the Jan V. Matejcek Prize for New Classical Music at the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) Gala 2025 in Montreal on May 4. The award recognizes her notable contributions to the harp repertoire. Lizotte, who has been composing for the harp for 35 years, says she is “extremely touched” and “very happy” to receive the award. The Quebec native also says she is grateful to the harpists who play her works and to her family-operated publishing company, les éditions Calyane, for distributing her music.
The SOCAN awards is an annual event, held in both Toronto and Montreal, which celebrates the songwriting, composing, and music publishing achievements of its members (both anglophone and francophone). This year’s gala marks the 100th anniversary of the organization, which administers Canadian music licenses.
The SOCAN award was just one of several honors Lizotte has received recently for her compositions. This April, she performed in the opening concert of the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, presenting her harp and cello suite inspired by Scotland, Close for Couloir, op. 48, with her husband Étienne Ratthé on cello. In January, the members of the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble performed her composition Raga pour deux harpes, op. 41, in Carnegie Hall. In the summer of 2026, Lizotte will be the composer in residence at the One Harp World event in Toronto as the recipient of the Ann Stockton Memorial Award for New Music, which recognizes her significant influence on the development of contemporary harp repertoire.
Check out our cover interview with Lizotte in the May-June 2012 issue of Harp Column to learn more about her compositional process.
