Marianne Smit
Marianne Smit (born 1984) is a Dutch harpist. Biography. Marianne Smit started playing the harp in 1995 when she was nine years old. Initially she was taught by her mother Gertru Smit-Pasveer, the sister of flutist Kathinka Pasveer. After one year she became student of Anke Anderson. She was among the first to be entered into the Young Talent department of the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1998, where she received the guidance of Erika Waardenburg. Her aunt's close associate Karlheinz Stockhausen composed a harp duet for Smit and Esther Kooi, "", which premiered on June 7, 2006 in  the Duomo of Milan. She passed her Bachelor's exam cum laude in June 2007. Smit has participated in audition training with Petra van der Heide, a harpist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In this course she won the first prize which earned her a spot on the orchestra in two of their concerts. She has participated several times in productions of the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.