Mathilde Wauters (29/12/1995) was born in Bruges into a family of musicians. She took her first steps into the world of harp at the age of five playing with her sister Emma. After this introduction to the harp, she took lessons at the Bruges Municipal Conservatoire with Eline Groslot. At the age of 15, she was admitted to the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp in Sophie Hallynck's class as a young talent. There she obtained her Master's degree with highest distinction in 2017.
Mathilde then perfected at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Isabelle Moretti, where she obtained her Master's degree with accolades from the jury. Mathilde completed her programme at the Orchestra Academy of the Munich Philharmonic, under the accompaniment of solo harpist Teresa Zimmermann. Since 2022, Mathilde has been solo harpist with the Residence Orchestra in The Hague.
As a soloist, Mathilde was laureate of several national and international competitions, including the international competition Félix Godefroid and the national competitions Harpegio and Belfius Classics. She was also awarded a medal by the Union of Belgian Composers. In 2013, Mathilde won a 1st prize with unanimity of the jury in the Concours International Martine Géliot in Paris/Fontainebleau. At the prestigious 11th USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington in 2019, in addition to the Bronze Medal, she also won the special prize for the best performance of the Concierto de Aranjuez in the final.
Mathilde is laureate of the non-profit organisation SWUK. Her solo album Whispers of Tales, realised with their support, was released in April 2022.
Mathilde regularly plays music with HERMESensemble for contemporary music and I Justiniani and has already been invited to perform at La Monnaie, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She is a regular guest at the Arte Amanti chamber music festival and has played recitals for Camac Harps, Afternoon Concerts Antwerp, Harppunt and the Cathedral Concerts Bruges. She was also heard as one of De Twintigers on Klara.
In chamber music, Mathilde is part of trio Gilu. She also regularly performs with her sister Emma, with whom she forms a harp duo. Together they explore the duet repertoire from John Thomas to Karlheinz Stockhausen, and they performed these programmes in Bozar in Brussels and in the Concertgebouw Brugge, among others.