Xavier de Maistre

Harpist Xavier de Maistre became the first French musician admitted to the Wiener Philharmoniker, where he maintained parallel paths as a solo performer, recording artist, and instructor. New works by Krzysztof Penderecki and Kaija Saariaho were written expressly for him.

Born in Toulon on the French Riviera on October 22, 1973, de Maistre took up the harp at the age of nine. While pursuing degrees in political science and economics at the London School of Economics, he traveled regularly to Paris to study with Jacqueline Borot and Catherine Michel. Several important competition victories, among them a prize at the International Harp Competition in Bloomington, Indiana, opened professional doors. In 1998 he entered the Wiener Philharmoniker, thereby becoming the first French player in that ensemble, and issued his first recording on the Harmonia Mundi label, devoted to music by Henriette Renié. During the following decade he made additional discs for Claves and RCA Red Seal.

De Maistre remained with the Vienna orchestra until 2010 while also appearing as guest soloist with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Helsinki Philharmonic, among others. Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, and André Previn are among the conductors under whom he has performed. In 2001 he joined the faculty of the Hamburg Academy of Music and has since given classes at the Juilliard School in New York, Toho University in Tokyo, and Trinity College of Music in London.

After signing with Sony Classical he released the 2010 album Aranjuez: Concertos and Dances for Harp. Working independently after his departure from the Philharmoniker, de Maistre has appeared regularly at leading European festivals such as Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Verbier, and has partnered with singers including Barbara Bonney, Diana Damrau, and Kathleen Battle. He has continued to record for Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony Classical, releasing the album Christmas Harp on the latter imprint in 2021.