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About Lara
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 of 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.
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. Her debut full-length album ! was released in 2022 via Mercury KX, an imprint of Decca Records & Universal Music, which Pitchfork praised for "combining the mundane and the fantastical."
Photo by Mads Perch
2024 sees the Sundance premiere of Better Angels: The Gospel According To Tammy Faye, the latest documentary from Academy Award–nominated director Dana Adam Shapiro with an original soundtrack spanning 4 episodes scored by Lara and composing partner Cyrus Reynolds. Producers include Elton John and VICE.
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. She was recently brought in specifically for her sound to record and explore harp textures and fx for the score to Blue Planet II by Hans Zimmer & Jacob Shea, featuring Radiohead.
She has also featured as harp soloist on Hans Zimmer’s score for Disney’s The Lion King, Kris Bowers’ score for The Color Purple, Green Book, 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 DC film Birds of Prey, and Jermaine Stegall’s score for Coming 2 America. She also worked one-on-one with composers Mark Isham & Isa Machine (from Florence & 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.
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 & 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.
Lara is often called upon for her unique combination of electroacoustic harp and fx pedals to compose alongside other artists and as a live performer. 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 2022 record Fragments. Lara has also recorded and performed live with Anderson. Paak, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ariana Grande, H.E.R., John Legend, Olivia Rodrigo, Laufey, 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.
