Catrin Finch

Inspired to learn the harp at the age of 5, her rise to prominence started almost immediately, achieving the highest mark in the UK for her Grade Eight exam at the age of nine. She studied with Elinor Bennett for eight years before entering the Purcell School. Catrin graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2002 where she studied with Skaila Kanga and received the Queen’s Award for the most outstanding student of her year.

Her first major competition success came in 1999 winning the Lily Laskine International Harp Competition in France, one of the premier harp competitions in the world. On winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, Catrin went on to play in over 30 states in the USA, including recitals and concerto debuts in New York, Boston and Washington D.C. In May 2004 she was nominated for a Classical Brit Award and has also received an Echo Klassik in Germany.

Catrin is the former Royal Harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales. Holding the appointment from 2000–2004, she had the honour of reviving this ancient tradition last held in 1873. During her period as Royal Harpist she played regularly at the royal palaces and performed to royalty from around the world.

She has performed extensively throughout the US, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. She has appeared with many of the world’s top orchestras including the Boston Pops, the New York Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at the Barbican’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the London Mozart Players, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, the Lake Charles Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony and the Manchester Camerata.

Catrin has appeared on all the major television and radio networks in the UK and many abroad. Among her earliest appearances on TV were two features on the BBC’s Blue Peter, and since then there have been many appearances on radio and television in the UK. In 2003 Catrin presented a TV documentary about herself entitled Charlie’s Angel, which was awarded a BAFTA Cymru/Wales award for the best music programme.

She has collaborated closely with composer Karl Jenkins, including the premiere of a double harp concerto commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales.

She has recorded for most of the major international recording companies, including Universal Records, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI and Sony Classical, both solo and with notable artists such as Bryn Terfel, Sir James Galway and Julian Lloyd Webber. Her versatility in different musical genres is demonstrated in her many recordings, which range from solo classical recitals and concertos, through to an eclectic cross-over mix and her own 14-piece band CF47. She has received honours from the University of Wales Aberystwyth and Bangor, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music.

Known for her work within the community and with the younger generation, Catrin is committed to promoting the harp and classical music in general to a new and wider audience.