Alina Bzhezhinska is an international harpist and teacher based in Edinburgh. Her diversified repertoire includes classical, folk and jazz music. She arranges and composes jazz music for harp and has been inspired into making arrangements for the clarsach.

Alina has been tutored by some of the very best teachers in Europe. She studied classical music with Prof. Ursula Mazurek in Poland, and Prof. Helga Storck in Germany, and studied jazz with Dr Carrol McLaughlin in Arizona. She has also attended several master classes with, most notably, Isabelle Moretti, Kumiko Inoue, and jazz harpist Park Stickney.

Educationally, Alina has achieved a Masters Degree in Art from the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland and a Masters Degree in Classical and Jazz Harp from the University of Arizona in the United States.

She has performed with some major orchestras in Europe. Early in her career she played with the Young World Symphony Orchestra and, later, with the Young German Philharmonic orchestra, touring Germany and Italy. After achieving her first Masters degree, Alina was a harpist with the National Opera in Warsaw and the Poznan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Alina had a harp studio in Warsaw teaching classical and celtic harp to a number of young students. After a mere two years studying her students had performed solo recitals at the National Philharmonic and the TV Concert Hall in Warsaw. A major achievement for them and a testimony to her success as a teacher.

When she was in the USA, Alina was a member of Harp Fusion, one of the largest harp ensembles in the world. In that time, she composed numerous pieces for the ensemble, toured with them around Europe and the USA, and recorded a CD and DVD.

In addition to all of this, she has still had time to follow an extensive solo career. Recently she has performed in the Ukranian National Philharmonic in Kiev, in the City Concert Hall in Tucson, in the "Celebration Of The Harp" festival in Warsaw, and in The Edinburgh International Festival.

Alina is now becoming actively involved in the Clarsach Society in Edinburgh and is continuing her career as a performer and teacher. She has opened her harp studio and has formed harp ensemble 'Harp Angels' in Edinburgh, who have already appeared in a several concert programs, including performing in the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is also currently performing with the Scottish Opera.

Harp Angels Review (Three Weeks- Edinburgh Festival Newspaper)
One of the largest audiences St Andrew's and St George's has managed to pull, and of various ages and nationality, we enjoyed one night in heaven courtesy of the Harp Angels. The evening started with a piece by the well known Scottish harpist Isobel Mieras. Gradually, layers are added on to a simple melody over a bass pedal point, we rise to a climax before dying away again. Next came Handel and there followed a series of solos and duets before the whole group joined again to complete the first half. Every piece was prefixed by taped real-world sounds, with children playing, bombers thundering overhead and birds chirping, once alongside the buzzing of bees, adding a new dimension to each. In the second half we got a taste of ragtime and jazz. The latter does not come easily to a harpist as frequent pedalling is required to change keys to provide blue notes, but the technicalities caused no problems. In Bzhezhiska's (director and soloist) own work, she combines Celtic and Flamenco sounds with a hint of the East in the closing moments. Strong solo performances were also given be Mairi Macleod and youngster Calum Macleod. Bzhezhinska played with conviction throughout, at times picking out melodies with both hands surrounded by rising and falling arpeggios, at others attacking Latin and Eastern rhythms. The whole concert displayed precision, a strong sense of rhythm and a superb use of dynamics. I wanted to take Bzhezhiska home to put me to bed.
St Andrew's & St George's Church, 19 Aug, 7.30pm (9:30pm), £8.00 (£6.00), fpp 93.
twrating: 5/5 (twratings: 1 no go,2 poor show,3 good in its genre,4 just damn good, 5 kill for a ticket.)