Valérie Milot, harpe

Valérie Milot is a musician and entrepreneur who walks an unconventional career path. Championing her instrument into the spotlight, she reinvents the harp and its clichés, putting forth its powerful sound and astonishing colours. A sought-after soloist, Valérie regularly performs a rich solo repertoire with prestigious orchestras and reputed conductors. An eager pedagogue, Valérie is a professor of harp and chamber music at the Montreal Conservatory of Music. She is also the instigator of the Harpenning series, featuring concerts and workshops aiming to increase the discoverability of the harp and its various facets.

Widely recognised by her peers and by the public, her path is interspersed with numerous awards. In 2008, she unanimously receives her Prix avec Grande Distinction upon completion of her studies at the Montreal Conservatory of Music, under the guidance of Caroline Lizotte. Immediately thereafter, she is awarded the Prix d’Europe, the first harpist to win the prize in almost a century. This esteemed award allows her to further her studies with Rita Costanzi in New York. Her accomplishments continue thereafter: she is named Révélation Radio-Canada, along with being awarded the Prix d’interprétation at the Concours International de harpe de la Cité des Arts de Paris, the Opus Award for the Découverte de l’année, the Création arts de la scène Prize at the Arts Excellence de Culture Mauricie Gala, as well as multiple nominations at the ADISQ Gala.