Met Opera principal harpist Emmanuel Ceysson is profiled in the December 2017 issue of Opera News. Titled “Harp Throb,” Paul Driscoll writes, “Ceysson is charming, loquacious, and brilliantly gifted.” He chats with Ceysson about his childhood growing up behind the harp – he joined the Opéra National de Paris as its principal harpist at 20 – and how he has grown as a musician since joining the ranks of the opera community. “When you’re in an opera orchestra,” Ceysson says, “you must accept that you are serving a higher form of music, which is the voice, and that you are part of something greater than yourself. And so, you have to adapt your playing.”
Outside of his work with the Metropolitan Opera and the Opéra National de Paris, Ceysson has won first prizes at the USA International Harp Competition, the New York Young Concert Artist Auditions, and the ARD Competition in Munich. Currently on faculty at Mannes School of Music, he has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. In 2012, he released an album of solo harp transcriptions of opera melodies, which Opera News calls “striking.”
The article ends with a reflection on his past two years with the Met. Ceysson talks about experiencing the legacy of music director James Levine (“a legend”) and his experiences with his colleagues, saying, “It is an amazing thing to be working with people that are so great at what they do, and at the same time are so kind and open and so friendly. And we are the hardest-working orchestra I know.” What an inspiration!
Opera News subscribers can view the article here. For more on Emmanuel Ceysson, you can check out his website or subscribe today to see his Harp Column profile in the July/Aug. 2016 issue.
