Gillian Benet Sella

Biography

Dr. Gillian Benet Sella has been Principal Harpist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for over thirty years. Previously, she was Principal Harpist with the Israel Philharmonic and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

Adjunct Professor at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music since 2003, Sella has been a faculty member and a performer four times at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She performed and taught at the Brevard Music Center Festival and twice served as faculty at the National Youth Orchestra presented by Carnegie Hall. Sella has given masterclasses worldwide for schools including The Juilliard School, Beijing Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Harp Centre, ASTA and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

Sella has performed concertos with orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic, CSO, Radio Prague Symphony, Quebec Symphony, Kennedy Center Opera House, and premiered the Liebermann Concerto for Harp and Flute with flutist James Galway with the CSO. Sella also appeared as a guest harpist with the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, and recently performed a recital with Dallas Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Alexander Kerr and CSO Principal Flutist Randolph Bowman for the USA International Harp Competition.

Sella can be heard on dozens of recordings, videos and live-streams with the CSO and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. She is featured in recordings of Tailleferre’s Harp Concertino, with the Women’s Philharmonic, Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Jolivet’s Chant de Linos and Jongen’s Concert à Cinq, with the Atlantic Sinfonietta on Koch and Tan Dun’s In Distance for harp, piccolo and bass drum on CRI with the composer playing the bass drum. During Covid, the CSO commissioned a harp solo as part of The Fanfare Project by Du Yun.

Sella graduated cum laude from Harvard College, received a doctoral degree from The Juilliard School and Artist Diplomas from the Glenn Gould School of Music and the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. She has been a jury member of the USA International Harp Competition and the Young Artist’s Harp Competition.