EN CLAVE DE ARTS
INTERNATIONAL MUSIC ACADEMIES & FESTIVALS

Zoraida Ávila, harp
She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where she studied with the eminent harpist Vera Dulova, earning a Master of Arts (1983) and a Philosophical Doctor (1985). She also holds an Associate of the Royal College of Music (London, Great Britain) degree in 1989 and a PhD in Musicology from the Complutense University of Madrid. She has received awards in international competitions and festivals such as the National Competition for Harpists of the USSR (1984) and the Andrés Segovia Prize for Spanish Music. She has performed in Venezuela, the USSR, Russia, Bulgaria, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Algeria, Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Greece, India, and China.
She has participated in international festivals: 1st Latin American Harp Festival, San José, Costa Rica; 15th Estoril Festival, Portugal; 2nd World Harp Festival, Cardiff, Wales; 7th El Hatillo Festival, Venezuela; 5th European Harp Symposium, Amsterdam, Holland.
Member of the jury in: “International Harp Competition”, Moscow 1997 and 1999, “Vera Dulova International Festival” (Moscow, 1997 and 2000) and “VII Harp Chamber Music Competition,” in Arles, France, 2001, “I International Harp Competition” in Szeged, Hungary, 2007 and I “Ksenia” International Harp Competition Erdely” in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Discography: With the Isolda Chamber Music Group, 1999 (Madrid, RNE), Between Two Worlds (Tribute to Nicanor Zabaleta), Madrid 2006 and Senderos, Madrid 2009.
Through the Isolda Cultural Association, which she chairs, she organizes the Iberian Chamber Music Competition with Harp (CIMCA), the only one in the world in this field since 2004, celebrating its 6th edition in 2019.
Her teaching career began in her hometown in 1970. She frequently teaches regular and master classes online and in person to students in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Ukraine. Since 2000, she has worked as a teacher at the Katarina Gurska Schools, where she teaches harp, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire. She is a tutor for Final Year Projects (FYP) and Master's Thesis (FYP).