CANTON, Sabien

Sabien Canton (b. 1976) is a Dutch harpist, composer, arranger, and music educator born in Eindhoven. She studied with Ernestine Stoop in Tilburg and Catherine Michel in Paris, completing her master’s degree in 2001. Her artistic work focuses particularly on chamber music, contemporary music, improvisation, and the development of new repertoire for the harp.
Canton has performed with the contemporary-music ensemble Insomnio, Het Zeeuws Orkest, the improvisational collective Wateraap, and TriDalí, a flute, viola, and harp trio with which she has given numerous performances in the Netherlands and abroad. As a composer and arranger, she writes principally for the harp, including solo and ensemble works and pedagogical repertoire. Her publications include Five Bagatelles for small harp and the internationally distributed Harpologie series, which combines original educational pieces, arrangements, duets, and technical material. She has also prepared arrangements for harp ensemble, including music from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
Together with harpist Miriam Overlach, Canton founded Composing for Harp, an educational platform that introduces composers to harp notation, extended techniques, and the instrument’s practical possibilities. She has taught at the Fontys Conservatory and remains active as a private harp and piano teacher.