Gillian Benet Sella

Dr. Gillian Benet Sella, principal harpist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1995, was previously principal of the Israel Philharmonic and the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra. In 1997 she premiered the Liebermann Concerto for Harp and Flute with James Galway and the CSO. She has performed solos at the World Harp Congress in Vienna, Paris, and Prague and was a concerto soloist at the American Harp Society National Conferences in Cincinnati and San Francisco. Sella graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where she studied French Civilization. She has masters and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School, a Concert Artist’s diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, and the Diplôme de Concertiste from the École Normale de Paris. Sella’s solo and chamber recordings include Tailleferre’s Harp Concertino, Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Jolivet’s Chant de Linos, Jongen’s Concert à Cinq, and Tan Dun's In Distance for harp, piccolo, and bass drum. Sella won many prizes and fellowships, including the Sony E.S Musical Excellence Grant, Fulbright Grant, and Rotary scholarship, and was the two-time first prize winner at the American Harp Society National Competition. She has been Adjunct Associate Professor at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music since 2003. An alumna of the festival, she has been on faculty at AMFS since 2013.