Lara Somogyi
Biography Lara Somogyi
Lara Somogyi
is a Los Angeles based harpist and contemporary classical performer-composer. Known for her work with electronics and pedal fx her work is focused on forging a new artistic identity for the harp.
Born and raised in Kauai, Hawaii and New York, Lara is a graduate from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and in 2018 was awarded as an honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her contributions to her field.
In addition to being a composer-performer, she is also an active session harpist - recording in a wide range of genres for Film and TV from sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra to Rufus Wainwright and Bonobo. Lara is also called upon for her unique combination of electroacoustic harp and fx pedals as well as her improvisation and compositional arrangements in sessions as well as a live performer.
Cultivating an individual sound for the harp - she brings a fresh, passionate, modern sonority to the instrument. She was recently brought in specifically for her sound to record & explore harp textures and fx for the score to Blue Planet II by Hans Zimmer & Jacob Shea, featuring Radiohead. Her signature use of electronics and harp is heavily featured on the score. She also worked one on one with composers Mark Isham & Isa Machine (from Florence and the Machine) on the Hulu show “Little Fires Everywhere” where they brought her on to record with her unique approach to the way the harp is used and heard. She can be heard all over the score sculpting the sonic landscape with harp.
She has also featured as harp soloist on Hans Zimmer’s score for Disney’s The Lion King, Kris Bowers’ score for Greenbook, Netflix’s Bridgerton, King Richard, When They See Us, Space Jam 2 and Hulu’s Mrs. America, Rob Simonsen’s score for Tully, Bleeding Finger’s The Simpsons and Nat Geo Being the Queen, Jasha Klebe’s score for Netflix’s Animals, Black Godfather, Brian Tyler’s Charlie’s Angels, Spike Lee’s film with Oscar Nominated score Da 5 Bloods by Terence Blanchard, Daniel Pemberton’s Marvel film Birds of Prey, and Jermaine Stegall’s score for Coming 2 America.
She recently performed in the 2019 Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Noon til Midnight festival at the Walt Disney Concert Hall premiering a piece commissioned by the LA Philharmonic by Tuvio Tulev with contemporary vocal ensemble “The Crossing”.
Years of sculpting her sound and developing her set of contemporary expressions on the harp, led her to write compositions for solo harp and electronics. Finding company and comfort in vast sonic expanses and exploration, ushered her to a renewed clarity of expression and identity with the instrument. In 2019 Lara premiered four of her solo harp compositions with Orchestra: “…Self.Seed…” and “Acceptances” written for harp, fx pedals, electronics and Orchestra with Symphony21 and her compositions “hundred00” and “Llodges” written for harp, fx pedals, and Orchestra with Sonic Open Orchestra in Los Angeles.
In addition to Film and composition, she also collaborates with other artists on their records. Recently, she was brought on board to work with neo-classical label Erased Tapes where she is featured on Ben Lukas Boysen’s album “Spells” with Nils Frahm. She is also featured throughout Bonobo’s upcoming record.
In addition, Lara has recently recorded and performed live with Anderson. Paak, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ariana Grande, H.E.R. John Legend, Camila Cabello, Kelly Clarkson, Bazzi, Ashanti, Kiana Ledé, Madison Beer, Melanie Martinez, We Are King, Billy Idol, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, and with Rufus Wainwright on Guy Chambers’ Secrets of a Pop Song on BBC.
Lara’s compositions and live performances have been featured in Spitfire Audio "One's to Watch," Roland Sessions, Lionsgate’s film Public Disturbance, and is a featured performer at Google X for their women in technology and innovation initiative.
