ABOUT ME
What defines Swiss harpist Ursula Fatton is her enthusiasm for orchestral work, be it the opera, the ballet or the symphonic repertoire.
Impressive experiences in her professional career have been appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, as well as her years as solo harpist at Staatstheater Braunschweig.
Her wide range of professional activities gave her the enriching opportunity to perform under prominent conductors such as, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann, Zubin Mehta, Kirill Petrenko, Semyon Bychkov and Riccardo Muti.
Ursula’s orchestral career began at the Landestheater Niederbayern in Passau while she was still a student. Subsequently, she won the full time position as solo harpist at Staatstheater Braunschweig, which she held for 10 years. During this time she has performed in numerous orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hanover State Opera and Staatstheater Kassel.
In 2013 she signed a temporary contract with the Vienna State Opera, which turned out to be groundbreaking for Ursula’s artistic future. The immense and varied repertoire at the Vienna State Opera, concerts and tours with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, participation in the Salzburg Festival and not least many chamber music projects and musical friendships, led Ursula to base herself artistically in Vienna. Since then she has worked as a freelance musician with the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Klangforum Wien and internationally, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kongelige Teater Copenhagen, the Norske Opera Oslo, the Bavarian State Opera and the Festival Strings Lucerne, to name a few.
In addition to her passion for working in the orchestra, Ursula dedicates herself to chamber music in various formations, including Ingolf Turban and Kaspar Zehnder, Leo Nucci and his Philharmonic Friends and as co-founder of the Wiener Grabenensemble with soprano Caroline Wenborne.
She is particularly interested in her cross-disciplinary art projects, such as a collaboration with actress Isabel Karajan or a program for dancers and music ensemble that she performed with harpist Anna Verkholantseva.
An interesting extension of the violin and harp repertorire are the 6 sonatas by Ignaz Josef Pleyel. Together with the violinist Raimund Lissy, Ursula recorded these rediscovered finds in 2017.
Ursula completed her studies with Prof. Helga Storck at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and graduated with a master class diploma. Other important musical impulses came in private lessons with Germaine Lorenzini, as well as with Isabelle Moretti, Daphne Boden and Charlotte Balzereit. She was a scholarship holder from the Ruth and Ernst Burkhalter Foundation and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation “Live Music Now” for several years and was supported by Credit Suisse.