Gillian Benet Benet Sella

Dr. Gillian Benet Sella, DMA, is Principal Harpist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), a role she has held for 29 years. Previously, she was Principal Harpist with the Israel Philharmonic and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestras.

An Adjunct Professor at the Univerity of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music since 2003, Sella returned this summer for the fourth time as faculty and performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She was also a performing artist at the Brevard Music Center Festival and returning as faculty at the National Youth Orchestra presented by Carnegie Hall. Sella has given masterclasses worldwide for schools such as The Juilliard School, Beijing Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Harp Centre, ASTA and Indiana University Schools of Music.

Sella has performed concerti with the Israel Philharmonic, Radio Prague Symphony, the Quebec Symphony, the Kennedy Center Opera House, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras and premiered the Liebermann Concerto for Harp and Flute with flutist James Galway and the CSO. Sella recently performed as a guest harpist with the Chicago Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras and performed a recital with Dallas Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Alexander Kerr and CSO Principal Flutist Randolph Bowman for the USA International Harp Competition.

Sella can be heard on dozens of recordings, videos and livestreams with the Cincinnati Symphony and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras in addition to Tailleferre’s Harp Concertino, with the Women’s Philharmonic, Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Jolivet’s Chant de Linos and Jongen’s Concert à Cinq, with the Atlantic Sinfonietta on Koch and Tan Dun’s In Distance for harp, piccolo and bass drum on CRI with the composer playing the bass drum. During Covid, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra commissioned a harp solo for Sella by Du Yun as part of their Fanfare Project that Sella premiered called The Rest is our World.

Sella graduated cum laude from Harvard College, received a doctoral degree from The Juilliard School and Artist Diplomas from the Glenn Gould School of Music and the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. She was on the jury of the 9th USA International Harp Competition in 2010 and the Young Artist’s Harp Competition. 

Concert Artist's Diploma: Royal Conservatory of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

Diplôme de Concertiste: Ecole Normale de Paris

AB: Harvard University Cambridge, MA,

MM and DMA: The Juilliard School New York, NY,