Marcel Grandjany

Marcel Georges Lucien Grandjany (gran-zhah-NEE) (3 September 1891 – 24 February 1975) was a French-born American harpist and composer.

Marcel Grandjany was born in Paris and began the study of the harp at the age of eight with Henriette Renié. At age eleven, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied with Alphonse Hasselmans, winning the coveted Premier Prix at age thirteen.

At seventeen he made his debut with the Concerts Lamoureux Orchestra, and gave his first solo recital, winning immediate acclaim. He appeared with Maurice Ravel in Paris in 1913. His London debut was in 1922 and his New York debut in 1924. He appeared as soloist with major orchestras under the direction of Gabriel Pierné, Alfred Cortot, Walter Damrosch, Serge Koussevitzky, George Szell, Fritz Reiner and Vladimir Golschmann, among others.

From 1921 to 1926, he headed the harp department of the Fontainebleau Summer School. He moved to the United States in 1926 and was appointed head of the Harp Department at the Juilliard School in 1938, where he taught until his death in 1975, with the exception of several years during the 1940s when he was on the faculty of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. He also taught at the Manhattan School of Music from 1956 to 1967. Notable students include American harpists Nancy Allen, Emily L. Oppenheimer and Eileen Malone. He also taught Anna Clark, the second wife of William A. Clark; she was also his patron.

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