VONPECHY, Valerie

Valerie Vonpechy Whitcup is an American composer, harpist, and educator.

Vonpechy was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College and the University of Miami, and studied harp with Edward Vito, the principal harpist with Arturo Toscanini's NBC Orchestra. She married Peter Whitcup. Most of her work is published under the name "Vonpechy."

Vonpechy was a visiting professor at the University of Illinois before moving to Florida. She was the principal harpist of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for 35 years, played for the Florida Grand Opera, and toured with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. She was the harp instructor at the University of Miami for 30 years.

Vonpechy arranged John Corigliano's choral composition L'Invitation au Voyage for flute and harp in 1988. In 2001, Vonpechy and double bassist Lucas Drew founded St. Francis Music Publications to publish repertoire for double bass, cello, harp, and string ensembles. They have released seven volumes of original harp solos, transcriptions, and arrangements by Vonpechy's late teacher Edward Vito, which Vonpechy edited and prepared for publication. The series is entitled From the Library of Edward Vito.