Yolanda Kondonassis (born 1963 in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, United States) is an American classical

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist. She is considered one of the world's premier solo harpists and is widely regarded as today's most recorded classical harpist. Kondonassis attended high school at

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. In ...

. She continued her education at The Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees as a student of Alice Chalifoux. Her honors include top prizes in the New York Philharmonic National Young Artists Competition, 2 Solo Recitalists Grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, Grammy nomination, Cleveland Arts Prize,

American Harp Society The American Harp Society, Inc. (AHS) is a non-profit organization. Founded in 1962, the AHS is an organization of harpists with more than 3,000 members from all 50 states and 20 countries. The organization is currently led by President Lynne Aspnes ...

Young Concert Artists Competition, Interlochen Arts Academy Young Artist Medal, and The Cleveland Institute of Music Distinguished Alumni Award. Kondonassis' discography, released on the

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

, Azica, Oberlin,

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

, and

Channel Classics Channel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conserva ...

labels, includes over twenty titles. Her 2008 album of music by Takemitsu and

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, ''Air'' (Telarc), was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Since making her debut at age 18 with the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, Kondonassis has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as

The Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most o ...

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationall ...

Hong Kong Philharmonic The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Cantonese: 香港管弦樂團), commonly abbreviated as HKPO or HKPhil (Cantonese: 港樂), is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Si ...

Detroit Symphony The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...

Dallas Symphony The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra traces its origins to a ...

San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. The orchestra is resident at Copley Symphony Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera. History On December 6th 1910, the ...

Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is an American chamber orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal concert venue is the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, of which the orchestra is a founding ...

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

, Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico,

Phoenix Symphony The Phoenix Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Phoenix, Arizona. The orchestra performs primarily at Phoenix Symphony Hall, and is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the state of Arizona. History Founded in 1947, the ...

Buffalo Philharmonic The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Faletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it ...

, Odessa Philharmonic (Ukraine),

New World Symphony New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, and

Florida Orchestra The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater, Florida, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of the ...

. She has also performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

, the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the ...

, and Taiwan's National Concert Hall. Her books include ''On Playing the Harp, a Comprehensive Guide to Harp Technique and Methodology'', ''The Yolanda Kondonassis Collection'', and ''The Yolanda Kondonassis Christmas Collection'' and were published by

Carl Fischer Music Carl Fischer Music (founded in 1872) is a sheet music publisher based in New York City's East Village. The company has since moved to the Wall Street area in 2013. After 140 years, the company remains a family-owned business, publishing both perf ...

. Her first children's book, ''Our House is Round: A Kid's Book About Why Protecting Our Earth Matters'', was published in 2012 by

Skyhorse Publishing Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont. History The current president and publisher is founder Tony Lyo ...

and praised as "the perfect children's introduction to environmental issues" by The Environmental Defense Fund. Royalties from several of her projects are donated to Earth causes. She is the founder and director of Earth at Heart, a non-profit organization devoted to earth literacy and inspiration through the arts. Kondonassis heads the harp departments at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

and The Cleveland Institute of Music, and has presented master classes around the world. She is married to Michael Sachs, principal trumpeter of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

Discography

*1993 – ''Scintillation'' (Telarc) *1994 – ''A New Baroque'' (Telarc) *1996 – ''Sky Music'' (Telarc) *1997 – ''Dream Season: The Christmas Harp'' (Telarc) *1998 – ''Mozart: Flute Concertos and Concerto for Flute and Harp'' with Renée Krimsier (Channel Classics) *1998 – ''Pictures of the Floating World'' (Telarc) *1999 – ''Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (for Harp and Orchestra)'' (Telarc) *2000 – ''Music of Hovhaness'' (Telarc) *2001 – ''Quietude'' (Telarc) *2002 – ''Music for a Perfect Day'' (Telarc) *2003 – ''The Romantic Harp'' (Telarc) *2003 – ''Debussy's Harp'' (Telarc) *2006 – ''Breathe: The Relaxing Harp'' (Telarc) *2007 – ''Salzedo's Harp'' (Telarc) *2008 – ''Air'' (Telarc) *2009 – ''Never Far Away: Music of Bright Sheng'' (

) *2012 – ''Solo Harp: The Best of Yolanda Kondonassis'' (Azica) *2013 – ''Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces'' (Oberlin) *2013 – ''American Harp'' (Azica) *2015 – ''Together'' (Azica) *2016 – ''Ginastera: One Hundred'' (Oberlin) *2019 – ''American Rapture'' (Azica)

References

External links

Yolanda Kondonassis official site
by Bruce Duffie, 1997
Colbert Artist Page for Yolanda KondonassisYolanda Kondonassis interview
by Tigran Arakelyan, 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kondonassis, Yolanda 1963 births Living people American classical harpists American people of Greek descent Cleveland Institute of Music faculty Musicians from Norman, Oklahoma 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians 21st-century American musicians 21st-century classical musicians Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni Cleveland Institute of Music alumni Oberlin Conservatory of Music faculty Women musicians