After having excelled in her harp studies at the Conservatoire de Nice, Isabelle Perrin gave her first recital at the age of seventeen at the Festival Méditerranéen des Jeunes Solistes. She then continued her education at the Juilliard School of Music in New York for three years before joining the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Upon her return to France, she was chosen by the Jeunesses Musicales de France to tour throughout the country giving recitals for three consecutive seasons, thus introducing the harp to a wide audience.

Named co-principal harpist of the Orchestre National de France in 1990, Isabelle Perrin was in the same year honoured to be chosen as a participating soloist by the Menuhin Foundation and selected in 1999 as laureate of the Torneo Internazionale de Musica in Rome, Italy.

An international soloist, Isabelle Perrin is regularly invited to perform with many prestigious ensembles such as the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle, USA), the Oshawa-Durham Symphony (Canada), Orchestra Filarmonico de Jalisco (Mexico), the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic (Belgium), the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), the BBC Wales Orchestra, the major French orchestras among them the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse, or the Orchestre National de Lorraine, with which she performed the Ginastera concerto during an eight concerts regional tour.

Isabelle Perrin is touring regularly in Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Australia. This season, her concerts and masterclasses will take her throughout Europe (France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Russia...), North and South America, Asia and Australia.

Isabelle Perrin’s personality has been an inspiration for many composers. Pierick Houdy – winner of the Grand Prix of Rome – wrote for her the Concerto Français for harp and orchestra, which she premiered in France with the Orchestre de Bretagne, and in America with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra (Louisiana), and which she also performed at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Bernard Andres, a major composer for harp, dedicated his Danses d’Erzulie for harp, string orchestra and percussion to her as well, which she premiered in Cincinnati (USA) in June of 2000, and later in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) in 2001.

Isabelle Perrin has recorded several CDs under international labels such as Hortensia, Arion, Pavane, Intégral, and FIM, including a recital of works by Bernard Andres, works for flute, viola and harp by Arnold Bax with the Turner Trio, of which she is the founding member, a world-premier recording of works for harp by F.A. Boieldieu including the famous concerto in C recorded on a period instrument, a recording of works for harp by Pierick Houdy, a SACD of an eclectic compilation of transcriptions and well-known harp repertoire and CD of the greatest French pieces by Fauré, Caplet, Roussel, Pierné, etc.

The youngest French recipient of the Certificate of Aptitude for harp pedagogy, Isabelle Perrin is the professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and gives master classes worldwide (Europe, USA, Mexico, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, etc.…). She was invited to be a guest professor for two months at the prestigious Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and was recently named Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In August of 2004, as president and artistic director, Isabelle Perrin organized the 6th European Harp Symposium which took place in Lyon, France. She holds the office of vice president of the World Harp Congress, which presents an international exhibition every three years in varying countries.

Isabelle Perrin has of late been knighted by the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of her exemplary career and her involvement in the musical word.