French harpist Xavier de Maistre will give a recital at the Shenzhen Concert Hall in April.

Maistre started to study the harp in his hometown conservatory in Toulon when he was 9 years old. Later he traveled to Paris to perfect his technique with Jacqueline Borot and Catherine Michel as he studied political science and economics at the London School of Economics.

At the age of 16, Maistre won his first international competition in Paris and later won awards at international competitions held in Cardiff, Munich, Vienna and Jerusalem. In 1998, he won the first prize and two interpretation prizes at the Bloomington International Harp Competition, the world’s most prestigious harp competition in the United States. Later in the same year Maistre became the first French musician to join the ranks of the prestigious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a soloist, Maistre has appeared with numerous orchestras under the baton of such eminent conductors as Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Simon Rattle, Andre Previn, Heinrich Schiff, Antoni Ros Marba, Bertrand de Billy, Walter Weller, Gilbert Varga, Josep Pons and Philippe Jordan, among others. He became the first harpist to appear as a soloist at one of the Vienna Philharmonic’s subscription concerts in May 2002.

Maistre has also been invited to perform at many of Europe’s leading festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein, Salzburg, Rheingau, Vienna and Verbier Festivals, the Budapest Spring Festival and the Würzburg Mozart Festival. Among the artists he has performed with are Kathleen Battle, Ingolf Turban, Anne Gastinel, Diana Damrau and Barbara Bonney and actors such as Peter Simonischek and Andrea Jonasson.

Maistre has taught at the Hamburg Academy of Music since 2001. He gives regular master classes in New York City, Tokyo and London.