Masumi Nagasawa – harpist

Masumi Nagasawa is an experienced and accomplished internationally known harpist. She was born in Tokyo, Japan but spent much of her childhood and early education in the Netherlands. Besides her broad harp repertoire of classic and modern music, she is a world expert on the 18th and 19th-century harp practice, giving master classes in conservatories and universities all over the world. She received her PhD degree from the University of Leeds, England in 2018 on “Single-action pedal harp and their implications for the performing practice of its repertoire from 1760 to 1830”. Currently she teaches both double and single-action pedal harp at the Conservatory Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Masumi studied harp with Phia Berghout in the Maastricht Conservatory, receiving her orchestra and solo diploma with cum laude. She was also awarded Prix d’ Excellence in the Netherlands and the Muramatsu Music Prize Grand Prix in Japan. Since then she has been invited to many International Festivals, such as the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival, the Salzburg Music Festival, the Geneva Music Festival, the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte and the Torino Milano Festival Internazionale della Musica.

She studied historical pedal harp with Mara Galassi. Masumi has performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra, the Balthasar-Neuman Ensemble, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Orchestra La Scintilla and the Netherlands Bach Society on the single-action pedal harp.

She has also been invited as a jury member for numerous International Harp competitions, including the Concours de harpe Lily Laskine in Paris.
Alongside her concert appearances, she composes and arranges music for the harp that has been published as well.

Masumi is a very versatile harpist and has made numerous recordings, released on labels such as Toshiba EMI Japan, Etcetera, Channel Classics, Globe, Ars and recently by BIS.