Anneleen Lenaerts

Still only 27 years old, Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts is making a name for herself as one of the leading soloists of her instrument. In December 2010 Anneleen was appointed Principal Harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Anneleen started playing harp with Lieve Robbroeckx and attended master-classes with many renowned harpists. She continued her studies at the Conservatories of Brussels and Paris in 2008 and gained her Harp Master degree with highest distinction. She completed through the “Cours de perfectionnement" at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Isabelle Perrin Besides harp Anneleen studied harmony, counterpoint and fugue at the Brussels Conservatory.

From an early age Anneleen started to win major accolades in her field: 17 prizes between 1997 and 2009 at international harp competitions in Belgium, France, Austria, Hungary, Spain, the USA and Germany, of which the “Grand Prix International Lily Laskine”, one of the most prestigious harp competitions in the world, and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich are particularly outstanding. At the latter, she was selected by the judges as well as taking home the Audience Prize. 

As a soloist Anneleen has performed with the Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian Radio, the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Collegium Musicum Basel, the Brussels Philharmonic, and the National Orchestra of Belgium amongst others. 

As a soloist, Anneleen has performed at Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Bozar in Brussels, Casa da Musica in Porto, the Royal Academy of Music in London and Herkulessaal in Munich and at events such as Rheingau Festival and “Pietrasanta in Concerto”. Solo appearances have been recorded by various stations including BBC 3, Radio France Musique and Deutschlandfunk.