Meet the Musicians: Valerie Muzzolini

By Leilani Polk

This January, Principal Harp Valerie Muzzolini takes center stage in two works: a solo feature in Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro, and the world premiere of Benjamin Attahir’s Hanoï Songs, a concerto for harp and piano that finds her joined by fellow French national and Seattle Symphony favorite, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. 

Muzzolini and Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot conceived the idea of a harp commission a few years back. Morlot was interested in exploring the relationship between piano and harp in the concerto form. Attahir’s name came up because the Toulouse composer had already written for harp; in 2013, he won the USA International Harp Competition Composition Contest for his “challenging and beautiful” solo harp piece, De l’obscurité II. 

Muzzolini first met Thibaudet when he performed with her student orchestra in Switzerland's Verbier Festival and has gotten to know him well on and off stage over the years due to his many Seattle Symphony performances and year-long residency. He was a natural fit as the work’s piano soloist in an all-French program structured around Ravel. Attahir’s work was inspired by Ravel, and Muzzolini had been working with Attahir to bring it to life. The French connection was a bonus. “I'm the only French person in the orchestra, it’s like a nice little warm blanket, to be able to perform a new commission by Benjamin, with Jean-Yves and Ludo. Definitely a highlight of my career.” 

That career includes 25 years playing with this orchestra, a milestone she celebrates in March. She’s had the chance to take part in some incredible performances over that time, including a concert in the late-night [untitled] Series that featured Berio's Circles as well as Pierre Boulez’s Sur Incises, for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists. “It’s one of the hardest things I've ever had to learn, but one of the most rewarding.” 

She still plays on the Lyon & Healy harp that a beloved late teacher bequeathed to her after she passed, and still finds great joy in repertoire works like Claude Debussy’s La mer (“the very first piece I've ever played with an orchestra, when I was 16”). She has also experienced some unforgettable moments, which include playing Heiner Goebbels’ “magnificent” Surrogate Cities, the 24-hour musical marathon that opened Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, and the encore of Ludo’s last concert as Music Director, Moonlight Music from Richard Strauss’ Capriccio.  

Despite being Principal Harp for so long, she still sometimes gets nervous, especially when things don’t go exactly as planned. “And then you have to, think on your feet and react differently. That is what's always going to keep the job special and particularly challenging. I like the idea of, sometimes being thrown off — it keeps me on my toes.”

See Muzzolini in her two features in the Ravel Mother Goose program January 30–February 1, 2025.  

Ludovic Morlot's position is generously underwritten as the Judith Fong Conductor Emeritus.