Auro Duo - Clara Gatti Comini and Maria McNamee

Clara & Maria will be performing a classical programme including music by Mel Bonis, Fanny Mendelssohn, Germaine Tailleferre, Marie Jaëll, as well as a newly written piece by composer Tom Hughes and Waltzes and Promenades by John Marson to celebrate the UKHA 60th anniversary.

Clara Gatti Comini and Maria McNamee are two concert harpists who began playing as duo after receiving the joint John Marson Prize for Outstanding Musicianship in 2020. They both completed their undergraduate and master’s degrees at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, having both graduated with distinction in 2023.

The duo have enjoyed performing together for various concerts in and around London. Highlights include their debut recital at St. James Piccadilly, as well as their regular concerts in Greenwich at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, St Alfege Church and Queen’s House and as part of the Conservatoire Concerts series in Godalming.

In 2020, the Aura Duo recorded John Marson’s ‘Waltzes & Promenades’ for Da Vinci records, as part of the CD “A day in the life of...John Marson”. In 2023 the duo recorded ‘Gimnopedia Rapsodica’ for two harps, piccolo, flute, celesta and spoken voice, as part of Dr.Simone Spagnolo’s album which will be released on Spotify and Youtube in March 2024.

The duo enjoys collaborating with live composers on generating new music for two harps.

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Each year the UKHA committee selects three soloists or ensembles at the beginning of their careers to take part in a collaborative concert series. With support from the UKHA, these artists will work together to curate, plan and perform nine concerts across the UK.

https://www.ukharp.net/emerging-artists.html