Harpa Dei

Harpa Dei is a vocal ensemble of four siblings: Nikolai, Lucía, Marie-Elisée and Mirjana Gerstner. They were born in Germany and grew up in Ecuador, and their shared foundation is the long formation they received together in a Catholic religious community.

Since 2011 they have sung as part of a peace initiative, gathering sacred music from different traditions and singing it a cappella — Gregorian and Byzantine chant, Marian hymns, Slavonic and Latin repertoire, songs in the many languages their travels have brought them. Nothing is arranged for effect. Four voices, no instruments, and a repertoire chosen for what it does rather than how it sounds.

The work has taken them to Mexico, Israel, Germany, Russia, Ecuador, the United States and much of Europe. Alongside the concerts they publish short daily meditations, and they describe their aim in the words of the Second Vatican Council: that the Church's musical tradition is a treasure of inestimable value, and that a sensitivity to it is worth recovering.