Valeria, Harpist

London harpist Valeria Kurbatova started her musical career at the age of 8 when she began studying the harp at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow.

She had her debut at the age of nine at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire. Since then Valeria has performed as a soloist and in ensemble groups in numerous concerts, at a vast range of concert halls: Kensington Palace, Wigmore Hall, Victoria & Albert Museum, The Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, The Forge, The National Gallery, The Houses of Parliament, The Natural History Museum, Westroad Hall (Cambridge) and The Royal College of Music Concert Halls.

She also has performed in front of HRH Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Michael and HRH Prince William.

Valeria has won awards at a number of different International harp and music competitions: Scholarships from “New Names Foundation”, “The Young Talent” award from the Spivakov International Foundation, 1st prize at the International Harp Competition in Moscow, Young Talent award at the Moscow Music Festival, 4th prize at the International Cardiff Harp Competition, “Best student of the year” award in 2011 (among all music conservatoires in Russia), finalist of the Croydon Concerto competition followed by “Young Soloist” award and the Jellinek Prize, 1st prize at the Royal College of Music harp competitions in 2012 and 2014. In 2012 Valeria was also selected as a ‘Rising Star’ by The Royal College of Music

Valeria can play solo or alongside a range of different instruments and is available to play a memorable performance for your wedding day or event. Her comprehensive repertoires in Classical, Bollywood, Popular and Jazz music are available on request. She is happy to choose the music to suit your event, or play your chosen genre, or she can also arrange any music you would like, for harp, to make your day extra special for you.

Testimonials

“Thank you for your beautiful music Valeria, you are a very talented young musician!”

HRH Prince Michael of Kent at the event in Lancaster House

“Thank you so much for your lovely playing at our reception on Tuesday. Our guests really enjoyed it, and the harp sounded so beautiful in the music room. I know Prince Michael really enjoyed meeting you too.

Debbie Butler

Communications and Marketing Manager at Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)

“I’ve never heard a harpist play with such clarity like this before!”

Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones

“Thank you so much for performing so wonderfully last night. I really meant it when I said that it was beyond perfect and I can’t tell you how very grateful I am to you for helping to make the event so incredibly special and memorable for our guests.

It really was such a joy to listen to such a fabulous and professional performance, which was beyond anything I could have hoped for.

It was so obvious how much the guests enjoyed listening to you, and I’m so pleased they all wanted to thank you personally afterwards!

We run so many events here and they can sometimes all start to blend into one, but last night will always really stand out for be as one of the most special I’ve had the pleasure of working on”

Kyla Owen (National Gallery)

From a review about concert with the SSO in March 2016:

“…The engaging young soloists Valeria Kurbatova [harp] and Luce Zurita [flutes] seemed to cope admirably with the level of virtuosity and musicality demanded of them – as did the SSO. I have to confess that the programmatic nature of the piece went from my head as soon as it started – thanks to the performers the music had its own logic. It’s pretty extraordinary that an orchestra drawn from really quite a narrow local community can provide players of a calibre both willing and able to take on challenging 21st century music and make it work so well. Incidentally it was good [and something to be encouraged] that the soloists followed recent trends and gave us a delightful Jacques Ibert encore after the concerto.”

John Hendry – Sevenoaks Symphony Orchestra

“What a terrific harpist you are! Thanks so much for working/playing at The Royal Society of Medicine. I know your involvement in the evening’s event proved popular and was well received.”

Paul Summerfield, Royal Society of Medicine

“Valeria is a very interesting person and excellent harpist and musician. I am very fond of her. I wish her all the best for the future.”

Marisa Robles (World famous harpist)

“Valeria played at our conference, I have to praise her for her incredible performance and her professionalism. The queue of people to thank her for her performance was at least ten people long and so many people commented on how much they enjoyed it. I wouldn’t hesitate to book Valeria again!”

James O’Brian (Private Client)