Valeria Kafelnikov is a harp professor at the CNSMD de Lyon and a soloist with the Ensemble Intercontemporain. She also pursues a solo career, performing with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Orchestre National d’Auvergne, and Les Siècles, under conductors including Thomas Zehetmair, Lars Vogt, Kazuki Yamada, François-Xavier Roth, Hervé Niquet, and others. She is regularly invited to give recitals and chamber music performances at the Aldeburgh Festival, WDR Cologne, the Auditorium of the Musée d’Orsay, the Besançon Festival, MC2 Grenoble, the Boulez Saal in Berlin, and the Prades Festival. Her work in contemporary music leads her to collaborate closely with today’s composers (she is the dedicatee of several harp concertos, notably by Liza Lim and Marc André), to explore performative projects (Ruhr Triennale), and to work with jazz musicians (Orchestre National de Jazz) and improvisers. She is currently training in orchestral conducting and is taking her first steps as a conductor with the Orchestre National de Bretagne, or as assistant to Pierre Bleuse with the orchestra Les Siècles.