Armenian-Italian harpist Susanna Mildonian died Oct. 7, 2022, in her home in Brussels, Belgium, after a prolonged illness.
The daughter of Armenian parents, Mildonian was born July 2, 1940, in Venice, Italy. She studied harp with Margerita Cicognari at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatoire in her native city where she obtained the first prize in 1959. In 1962, further studies with Pierre Jamet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris were again rewarded with a first prize.
Mildonian won first prize at the First International Harp Contest in Israel in 1959. The jury of the International Music Competition in Geneva unanimously awarded the first prize to Mildonian in 1964. Mildonian received first prize at the International Competition “Marcel Tournier” in Paris in 1971. It was also in Paris that she was awarded the prestigious “Grand Prix du Disque.”
Mildonian began performing in Italy and abroad at the age of 14. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York in 1972, and gave recitals in Europe, the United States, Japan, Russia, Korea, and Taiwan. She also performed with many leading orchestras all over the world.
Mildonian was professor of harp at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels and taught at the international summer course Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. She was a member of the jury of the 50th Anniversary International Harp Contest in Israel in 2009.
