Monday, February 23, 2026
12 PM
A musical prodigy born and raised in Italy, Chiara Capobianco began performing with orchestras touring all over Europe starting at age 15. Chiara studied classical piano, flute, and ballet before falling in love with the harp. Having lived abroad and performed across the globe, this international award-winning harpist is pleased to now call San Diego her home. Her eclectic musical talents along with her charming personality shine with local and global audiences alike.
While in Italy this past summer she was awarded the prestigious Premio Rossetti-Montano 2024 Artisti girovaghi contemporanei, Contemporary Globetrotter Artist.
Chiara’s expansive repertoire of over 1,000 selections ranges from classical, opera, medieval, renaissance, jazz, movie themes, musicals, contemporary and popular tunes, along with Irish, Scottish Welsh, Italian, South American, and Indian folk music.
As resident harpist for six years on luxury Cunard ships Queen Mary II, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Victoria, she performed across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America.
She was invited to perform for HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. She is the first Italian to perform at the acclaimed 5th Edicion del Festival Mundial del Arpa in Asuncion, Paraguay.
While residing in London, Chiara performed at many renown venues including London City Hall, Claridge’s Hotel, Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane Hotel, and Grosvenor House Hotel. While based in Mumbai she toured all over India playing her harp renditions of Bollywood music and popular love songs at weddings and special events. In Thailand she served as resident harpist at Bangkok’s Plaza Athenee Le Meridien Hotel and in Hua Hin’s 5 star Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas.
Closer to home, Chiara currently serves as resident harpist at Afternoon Tea in San Diego’s Westgate Hotel. She has performed at the annual Secret Garden tours by La Jolla Historical Society, La Jolla’s First Friday Art Walks, La Jolla Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, Moonlight Amphitheater, and many other venues throughout Southern California. She also teaches harp at La Jolla Music.
She is a music graduate from the prestigious Conservatorio G. Verdi of Milan, and a university graduate in musicology from the Scuola di Paleografia e Filologia Musicale di Cremona, Universita degli Studi di Pavia, Italy. She received an Erasmus scholarship to study at the Ludwig Maximilian Universitat in Munich, Germany.
Free concerts at noon every Monday year-round . . . no wonder the Mini-Concerts are the longest-running and one of the most popular classical music series at the library! This series was founded by Glenna Hazleton in 1970 at the Athenaeum, and has been going strong ever since. The concerts feature both local and touring musicians, prize-winning students, university music faculty members, local chamber ensembles. . . and the repertoire also includes jazz, folk, and world music. There are no reservations, no tickets . . . just line up at the side door of the Athenaeum before noon. (Donations are always welcome!) Mini-Concerts take place every Monday at noon and last about an hour.
The concerts will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Doors open at 11:40 a.m. Last entry is at 12:10 p.m. or once capacity is reached. Seating is first-come; first-served. Reservations are not necessary, but seating is limited.