Harpist

Zita Silva

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(5.0)Read all 37 reviews
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About Zita

Experienced and versatile freelance harpist based in London, England and Porto, Portugal.
Harpist
Bedford
Public liability insurance of £10 million
Verified profile

Zita Silva is a talented Portuguese harpist who has performed widely in all the most prestigious venues in Portugal and broadcast live for the national classical music radio station. Her performances also include recitals at Wigmore Hall, the Harp on Wight Festival and at the Proms at St. Jude’s Music Festival, in England. Zita is a winner of the Guy Magrath Harp Prize, the Casa da Musica Prize, the Yamaha prize and an International prize winner in the Camac Harp Competition in London and the International Harp Competition in Szeged. She has also won the Young Musicians Awards in Portugal in the category of chamber music. Zita has also been a Finalist at the Patrons Awards, Royal Academy of Music, London. She is passionate about chamber music and working closely in small ensembles which has led her to establish several groups such as her duo with tenor Kieran White, Portucale Trio with flute and viola, 94Strings Duo with harpist Glain Dafydd and a duo with violinist Beatriz Rola. She has been invited to play with numerous orchestras including the Orquestra Gulbenkian, the Royal Orchestral Society, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Bloomsbury Opera Orchestra, and the Academy Symphony Orchestra, working with prestigious conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Semyon Bychkov, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Pedro Neves, Christopher Warren-Green, Manuel Lopez-Gomez and Eugene Corporon. She has also toured Portugal with the Orquestra XXI with emerging conductor Dinis Sousa and the Estágio Gulbenkian Orquestra under the baton of conductor Joana Carneiro. Zita graduated with a First Class Honours Bachelor degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2015 and with a Master of Arts with Distinction in 2017 under tutelage of Professor Karen Vaughan and Professor Emerita Skaila Kanga, supported with a scholarship by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Santander Universities UK and the Golden Charitable Trust.

Zita
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5 out of 5
36 verified reviews
Satisfaction
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5.0
Professionalism
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5.0
Communication
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5.0
Punctuality
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5.0

Zita's Reviews

From Encore customers:

BD
Billie-Rose D
2 years ago
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4.8 out of 5

Zita was a fantastic performer. Really added a special touch to the wedding day.

CM
Courtenay M
2 years ago
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5 out of 5

Thank you very much!

KH
Kate H
2 years ago
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5 out of 5

Fabulous music. Highly recommend.

JW
Joseph W
2 years ago
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5 out of 5

Excellent in every way. Communicating before the day was easy and Zita was really helpful and accommodating. On the day, she added the perfect blend of romance, elegance and fun to the wedding ceremony and reception. Her selection of pieces was spot on, and she played them all superbly. Many guests commented throughout the day on how wonderful it was to have such a talented musician make the atmosphere so beautiful and appropriate. Thank you so much for making our special day that bit more special!

Read all 27 reviews

From other customers:

ZO
Zahra O
3 years ago, for a Wedding in Richmond Park
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5 out of 5

Zita played for my wedding in Richmond park. She was incredible. I couldn’t count the number of people who came up to me complimenting the harpist. Not only this, but she was lovely and a pleasure to work with from the start. Thank you for making our night extra beautiful Zita and I couldn’t have wished for anyone better!

HS
Helena S
3 years ago, for a Wedding in Lodsworth
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5 out of 5

Zita played for us at our wedding on 17th July and she was absolutely fantastic. We had a lot of compliments on the day about her playing and we only found out after that she had quite a challenging journey getting to us, so the fact that she was able to play and play so well is tantamount to her professionalism. We were thrilled she could play for us and would definitely hire her again.

Read all 10 reviews
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25 gigs
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This act has been working with Encore for over 8 years
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Zita's Song list

Classical
Flower Duet - Delibes
Prelude no.1 - Bach
The Swan - Saint-Saëns
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba - Handel
Traditional Bridal March - Wagner
Wedding March - Mendelssohn
Canon in D - Pachelbel
Ave Maria - Gounod
Ave Maria - Shubert
Sheep May Safely Graze - Bach
Stay Thou By Me - Bach
Greensleeves (Traditional)
Claire de Lune - Debussy
Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven
Etude Opus 10, No. 3 - Chopin
Raindrop Prelude - Chopin
O Mio Banbino Caro - Puccini
Largo - Vivaldi
Pie Jesu - Lloyd Webber
Film & Musicals
City of Stars (La La Land)
Shallow (A Star is Born)
Evergreen (A Star is Born)
A Whole New World (Alladin)
Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)
How Far I’ll Go (Moana)
Something There (Beauty and the Beast)
Tale as Old as Time (Beauty and the Beast)
Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast)
This Is Me (The Greatest Showman)
When you wish upon a star (Pinocchio)
The Second Star to the Right (Peter Pan)
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella)
Cinderella (Cinderella)
Some Day My Prince Will Come (Snow White)
With A Smile And A Song (Snow White)
Glasgow love theme (Love Actually)
Do You Want to Build A Snowman (Frozen)
Let It Go (Frozen)
Over the rainbow (Wizard of Oz)
I dreamed a dream (Les Miserables)
Bring him home (Les Miserables)
My Favourite Things (The Sound of Music)
Bella Notte (Lady and the Tramp)
He’s A Tramp (Lady and the Tramp)
Part of Your World (Little Mermaid)
Memory (Cats)
The music of the night (Phantom of the opera)
All I Ask You (The Phantom of the Opera)
My favourite things (The Sound of Music)
Don't cry for me Argentina (Avita)
A thousand years (Twilight Saga)
Angel of Music (The Phantom of the Opera)
Think of Me (The Phantom of the Opera)
My Own True Love (Gone With the Wind)
I Don’t Know How To Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar)
Married Life (Up)
Send In The Clowns (A Little Night Music)
Final Fantasy VII Main Theme
A Summer Place Theme
The Wind Beneath My Wings (Beaches)
Baby Mine (Dumbo)
Somewhere in My Memory (Home Alone)
The Prayer (Quest For Camelot)
Love (Robin Hood)
Pop & Contemporary
Perfect - Ed Sheeran
Photograph - Ed Sheeran
How Long Will I Love You - Ellie Goulding
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
One Call Away - Charlie Puth
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
Marry You - Bruno Mars
All of Me - John Legend
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Hey Jude - Beatles
Yesterday - Beatles
Let it be - Beatles
All My Loving - Beatles
And I Love Her - Beatles
Here Comes the Sun - Beatles
Here, There and Everywhere - Beatles
Yesterday - Beatles
Paradise - Coldplay
Let It Be me - Bob Dylan
Morning has broken - Cat Stevens
Con Te Partiro - Andrea Bocelli
My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion
Kissing You - Des’ree
Lady - Kenny Rogers
Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
Against All Odds - Phil Collins
...
Ambience
Nuvole Bianche - Ludovico Einaudi
River Flows in You - Yiruma
...
Jazz
All The Things You Are
Over The Rainbow
Embraceable You
Ain't misbehavin'
Autumn Leaves
Fly me to the moon
My funny Valentine
Misty
Moon river (Breakfast at Tiffany’s )
...
Traditional
Scarborough Fair
Danny Boy
Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
David of the White Rock
My Fanwy
Sosban Fach
The Ships of Caernarfon
Watching the White Wheat
(This list contains only some of the pieces in my repertoire list)

Zita's Prices

Last updated: 2024

Note: prices may vary based on travel distance. For an exact quote, click “Check availability”.

Standard Prices
Performance durationPrice
Short performance (up to 15 min)£375
Up to 1 hour£437.50
Up to 2 hours£500
Up to 3 hours£562.50

Add-ons

Harp Amplification
+£75
Customer questions

What if my timings change after I've booked you?

I always try my best to be flexible and to ensure your event runs as smoothly as possible. If timings change, just let me know as soon as possible.

How much time do you need to set up?

I usually arrive at the venue to set up 1h before I need to start the performance.

Is the transport of your harp included in your quote?

Absolutely, I’ve included all travel costs in my quote.

Do you need any equipment provided to play outdoors?

If playing outdoors, I usually require cover as the harp can’t be in direct sunlight, and also as a precaution in the event of unexpected rain.

Can I pick the pieces you play from the set list?

Yes, absolutely. You are very welcome to let me know your preference on the songs you would like me to perform from my repertoire list.

Can you learn specific pieces before the event?

In general, yes. It does depend on which piece it is and how long do I have until the event. This is something I’m very happy to discuss prior making the booking.
Musicianship
Genres:
Christmas, Traditional church music, Classical, Baroque, Classical crossover, Contemporary classical, Early music, Film / TV music, Musical theatre, Opera, Ambient, 1950s era music, 1960s era music, 1970s era music, 1980s era music, 1990s era music, Folk, Country, Jazz, Blues, Latin jazz, Easy listening, Light music, Pop, Acoustic, Ambient pop, Covers, Top 40, World music, Bollywood, Traditional English folk, Traditional Irish folk, Traditional Scottish folk
See all genres
Instruments:
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Event types:
Wedding, Wedding proposal, Funeral / Memorial service, Church service, Hotel / Restaurant event, Bar / Club / Venue event, Private event, Corporate event, Charity event, Concert, Recording session, Theatre / Show, Cruise, Burns night, Birthday party, Christmas party, New Year's Eve
See all event types
Other skills:
Arranger, Transcription, Fluent sight-reader, Instrumental teaching, Theory teaching
See all skills