Lavinia Meijer

In 2015, Lavinia released a CD album produced by Sony Classical Records entitled Voyage, with solo pieces of Yann Tiersen, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie. On three tracks, Meijer played together with Amsterdam Sinfonietta on works by Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy.

In late 2015, Lavinia also released a live CD album produced by Sony Classical Records entitled In Concert. Meijer played together with Carel Kraayenhof, a Dutch bandoneon player. The album contained work by Luis Bacalov, Enrique Granados, Carel Kraayenhof, Astor Piazzolla, Anselmo Aieta, Jorge Cardoso, Lavinia Meijer, Pintín Castellanos, Ennio Morricone and Mariano Mores.

In 2014, Lavinia released "Passaggio", which consisted of pieces by the Italian composer/pianist Ludovico Einaudi and is critically acclaimed everywhere. This marked her first release on a major record label (Sony Classical Records) and the album immediately became number one on the iTunes Classical Charts.

In 2014, Lavinia released a CD album produced by Sony Classical Records entitled Passagio, consisting of pieces by the Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi. This album became number one on the iTunes Classical Charts.

In 2013, Lavinia's "Metamorphosis / The Hours" (Philip Glass) CD was awarded Gold Record and Platinum Record status for classical music in the Netherlands by The Dutch Association of Producers and Importers of image- and sound carriers.

Her broad interests led her also to experiment with jazz, pop music, and modern classics : in 2012, she released an album with works from Philip Glass that she transcribed for harp and which was approved by Glass himself. The album immediately rose to the top of the Dutch rock charts and Meijer often plays these pieces during candle-lit, acoustic concerts.

In 2012, Lavinia released a Super Audio CD album, produced by Channel Classics Records, entitled, "Metamorphosis / The Hours" with works from Philip Glass, transcribed for harp by Lavinia, and approved by Glass. The album immediately rose to the top of the Dutch rock charts.

In 2012, Lavinia received the Edison Award Public's Prize, for her CD "Fantasies and Impromptus".

In 2011, Lavinia released a Super Audio CD album, produced by Channel Classics Records, entitled, "Fantasies and Impromptus" with works from, among others, Louis Spohr, Gabriel Fauré, Gabriel Pierné, Camille Saint-Saëns.

In 2009, Lavinia released a Super Audio CD album, produced by Channel Classics Records, entitled "Visions" with works from 20th century composers, including Benjamin Britten, Paul Patterson, Garrett Byrnes, Isang Yun and Toru Takemitsu.

In 2009, Lavinia was awarded the Dutch Music Prize, the highest distinction for a classical musician in the Netherlands.

In 2008, Lavinia released a Super Audio CD album on Channel Classics Records, entitled "Divertissements" with works from French composers, including Carlos Salzedo, André Caplet and Jacques Ibert.

As a featured soloist, she also appeared on several radio programs and TV shows with renowned orchestras. She made her debut in Carnegie Hall, New York City in December 2007, where she was invited to perform a harp solo-evening.

In 2007, Lavinia was awarded the Fellowship from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in London, as well as the MeesPierson Award at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) together with violinist Tjeerd Top.

A number of composers, inspired by her talents, wrote new music especially for her: in 2006, Lavinia, together with the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, performed new transcriptions of Caplet, Debussy and Ravel, but also two world premieres from the Argentinian composer Carlos Michans and the Dutch composer Wijnand van Klaveren, both of which composed music especially for her and the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet. In 2007 Lavinia and Tjeerd Top (violin), performed a world premiere from the American composer Garrett Byrnes at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Furthermore, in 2007, Lavinia performed another world premiere piece composed by Carlos Michans at the Vredenburg in Utrecht, together with the Radio Chamber Philharmony conducted by Thierry Fischer.

Furthermore, she has won prizes for the best interpretation of Visions in Twilight from Garrett Byrnes and the harp concert in B-flat major from Georg Friedrich Händel. In 2005, Lavinia was awarded the Cultuurprijs from Ede for her promotion of the harp as a solo instrument. This prize was presented to her by the renowned Herman Krebbers.

In 2004 Lavinia made a tour through the Netherlands in the series "Het Debuut" together with the Jenufa Quartet. In the period 2006–2008, Lavinia is performing in the series "Rising Stars" with concerts in Cologne (Philharmonie), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Paris (Cité-de-la-Musique), Vienna (Wiener Musikverein), Birmingham (Symphony Hall), Athens (Concert Hall), Brussels (Paleis voor schone kunsten), Luxembourg (Philharmonie), Stockholm (Konserthus) and New York (Carnegie Hall).

In 2004, Lavinia produced a CD album entitled "1685" with works from Handel, Bach and Scarlatti, which features several self-transcribed preludes and fugues from Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier.

When she was 11 years old, Lavinia was accepted by Erika Waardenburg to study at the Young Talent Department of the Utrecht Conservatory. She graduated cum laude from the Utrecht Conservatory in 2003 and obtained a master's degree in Music (also cum laude) in 2005 from the Amsterdam Conservatory.

She also won prizes at several large international harp competitions: the second prize at the International Harp Competition in Lausanne (1998), the third prize at the International Harp Competition in Lille (1999), the first prize at the International Harp Competition in Brussels (2000), the third prize at the International Harp Competition in Israel (2001), the second prize at the Reinl-Wettbewerb in Vienna (2002) and the third prize at the Sixth International USA Harp Competition in America (2004).

Lavinia Meijer has won a large number of prizes. She won the first prize at the Prinses Christina Competition (1997), the Stichting Jong Muziek Talent Nederland (1996,1998), the Nederlands Harp Competition (1997, 2004) and the Vriendenkrans contest from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (2005).

Lavinia Meijer (born February 12, 1983) is a South Korean-born Dutch harpist.