Elizabeth Volpé Bligh was the Vancouver Symphony’s Principal Harpist from 1982 to 2018 after 6 years with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. She performed several solo concerti with the VSO and other orchestras, including two written for her.

      Elizabeth has taught privately and at UBC, Vancouver Academy of Music, VSO School of Music, PRISMA and VSOI. In 2012, she taught and performed at the 6th International Harp Workshop in Italy and co-founded Canadian International Summer Harp Institute with Gianetta Baril, Judy Loman and Cristina Braga.

     Her articles are published in magazines such as Harp Column. She has given master classes and lectures in China, New Zealand, USA, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada. Her compositions for solo harp, (in Royal Conservatory of Music and Trinity UK Syllabuses), are being performed internationally. Her YouTube channel includes her performances of these pieces, among others. She is President of the West Coast Harp Society and was Chair of the 11th World Harp Congress Host Committee in 2011. She has performed at international harp conferences and festivals and was a judge at the OSM Standard Life Competition in 2010, various Kiwanis Festivals and competitions in New Zealand and China. She was an Artistic Advisor for the 2020 and 2023 Vancouver International Music Competition.

“unparalleled purity and subtlety” – David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 29, 2012