Antonio Zamara

Antonio Zamara
(b Milan, 13 June 1829; d Hietzing, nr Vienna, 11 Nov 1901). Austrian harpist and composer of Italian birth.

He studied the harp with Simon Sechter at the Vienna Conservatory and became solo harpist at the Vienna Hofoper in 1842, a position he retained for 50 years. He was also professor of harp at the Vienna Conservatory, and wrote a Harfenschule, salon pieces, and transcriptions for the harp as well as works for harp in combination with other instruments. Among Zamara's pupils were Eduard Strauss, Edmund and Heinrich Schuëcker, Alfred Kastner and Vicki Baum. He also taught his daughter, Theresa, and his son Alfred (b Vienna, 1863), who like his father became professor of harp at the Vienna Conservatory and solo harpist at the Vienna Hofoper. Alfred Zamara wrote many salon pieces, made transcriptions for the harp, and edited Naderman's Sieben Etuden; among his pupils was Joseph E. Schuëcker.