Willy Postma
Harp | Arranger | Norwegian | b. 1942
About Willy Postma
Willy Postma (born 1942 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch-Norwegian harpist long resident in Norway. She first entered the Rotterdam Conservatory aged sixteen as a pianist, making her debut at seventeen with Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto, and took up the harp only at the age of eighteen. After a year with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (1963–64), she was appointed Principal Harp of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in 1964 — a position she held for forty-six years until 2010. She also served as Principal Harp of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1971–72) and won the International Harp Contest in Israel in 1970.
She has taught at the Norwegian Academy of Music (1991–2013), the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (1992–2000) and the Trondheim Municipal Music School (1980–2010), and has given masterclasses across Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia. She has commissioned and premiered new works by composers including Klaus Egge, Johan Kvandal, Kjell Mørk Karlsen, Halvor Haug and Henning Sommerro. In 2007 she was made Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.
