Following the success of the First Thamnak-Prathom International Festival and Youth Competition, which took place in Bangkok in 2009, the second edition of the festival is scheduled for August 15th - 19th, 2012. Once more, the festival's theme is "friendship through music", a lovely motto if ever there was one, and Bangkok will be welcoming back artists with a long association with the Thamnak-Prathom Harp Centre. Under the artistic directorship of Elinor Bennett and Tongsuang Israngkun na Ayudhya, the festival programme will include Catrin Finch, Florence Sitruk, Yasuko Kashiwabara, the composer Paul Patterson, Miriam Overlach and the Lumaka Ensemble of the Netherlands, Eduard Garcia and Marielle Nordmann.
There will also be a "Focus on Youth" concert, featuring the winner of the last Youth Competition, Yeona Pi. She will be joined by other young laureates from other international competitions: Mared Pugh Evans, winner of the Youth Category, Godefroid International Competition 2010; and Artemy Izmailov, winner of the Under Seventeen Category, Szeged International Competition 2010.
The Queen's Trophy, which young harpists from all over the world will be vying to win!
The festival website has now been updated: click here for more information.
We enjoy sponsoring harp festivals, both as their exclusive sponsor, and in collaboration with other companies and funding bodies. Every year, we also run a festival that is entirely our own organisation. It has always taken place in a different part of regional France - in 2006, it was in Lyon; in 2007, Strasbourg; 2008, Toulouse; in 2009, Lille; in 2010, Nice; and in 2011, Angers. In 2012, we've decided to branch out of France, but not out of French, as we take our festival to Geneva.
From Friday, October 5th, to Sunday, October 7th, the festival will follow its time-honoured format of a combination of concerts and masterclasses, plus the most extensive commercial exhibition we ever run, all in the one venue of the Théâtre de l'Espérance, 8 rue de la Chapelle, 1207 Geneva. It is also possible for you to have your harp regulated, if you contact us in advance to make an appointment.
This year, the cultural programme will begin with a focus on harp duos - with flute, clarinet, and cello, performed by Isabelle Moretti and Magali Mosnier, Ghislaine Petit-Volta and Jean-Marc Volta, and Sophie and Marie Hallynck. The following day, Saturday, will feature two masterclasses: one for the concert harp with Ghislaine Petit-Volta, and one for the lever harp with Mary Macmaster and Patsy Seddon, a.k.a. the Scottish duo Sileas. The same evening, Sileas will take to the stage as part of our mixed-genre "Harpélidoskope" concert. They will be joined by a solo performance from Petra van der Heide, Principal Harp with the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the evening will conclude with the Tara Minton Trio.
Sunday is devoted to Bernard Andrès. There will be a day-long masterclass and group rehearsal with the composer, before a concert of Andrès's works for harp ensemble, directed by Andrès himself, in collaboration with local harp professors.
Entrance to everything is free. If you would like to take part in a masterclass or workshop, please reserve a place, on +33 (0) 2 40 97 24 97, or via email: festival@camac-harps.com. It is also a good idea to reserve a place as an audience member, for space is limited.
A very warm welcome awaits you in Geneva! We hope to see you there!
Last week, Marisela González, Mercedes Gómez and Isabelle Moretti launched their entirely new project - the Taller Itinerante de Arpa de Pedales, the Travelling Harp Workshop. This very special idea aimed to make it easier for harp students in Latin America to access the sort of international masterclass most harp students take for granted. Because it is normally too expensive for these students to travel to standard masterclass and course programmes, Isabelle Moretti travelled with Mercedes and Marisela to Mexico. Jakez went too.
Jakez en route to Mexico City airport
Many thanks to Mercedes and Marisela for their Harpblog report!
TALLER ITINERANTE DE ARPA DE PEDALES
with Isabelle Moretti
Mexico City, April 25-30, 2012
Escuela Nacional de Música, sponsored by Camac Harps
All good things come to an end. In this case, we hope the end is only the beginning, since this very new format of a travelling workshop, designed specially for Latin American harp students, really needs to continue. We will keep working on ideas to make it possible again.
Our first edition of the Taller Itinerante de Arpa de Pedales was an intense six days of workshops with Isabelle Moretti. There were group and individual masterclasses. The week finished with a concert, in which selected students performed the pieces they had worked on with Isabelle - who also performed for the students, as they sat close by.
Continue reading "Report on the Latin American Travelling Harp Workshop" »
Here are the results of the recent Camac-sponsored competition at the North London Festival of Music, Drama and Dance. BRAVO to all the prizewinners!
Camac Harp Competition
First prize: Inbar Vernia
Second prize: Juliana Mysolv
Third prize: Rosanna Rolton and Cecilia de Maria
Recital Class 1 (Grades 1-2)
First prize: Emma Marcus
Second prize: Laura Burrows and Emily McEneaney
Third prize: Grace Connoly and Oscar Beed
Recital Class 2 (Grades 3-4)
First Prize: Heather Brooks
Second Prize: Kelsey Musekiwa
Third Prize: Daven Mitchinson and Plum Hewitt
Recital Class 3 (Grades 5-6)
First Prize: Cherry Ge and Molly-Rowan Sharples
Second Prize: Elizabeth Phillips
Third Prize: Erin Lawson-Smith and Freya Brylka-Mee
Recital Class 4 (Grades 7-8)
First prize: Kirsty Chaplin
Second prize: Ellin Samuel
Third prize: Lydia Fargo Pearce and Fien Berneet-Neefs
Chamber Ensemble (up to Grade 5)
First prize: Mitchinson Harp trio
Chamber ensmble (Grade 6 +)
First prize: Juliana Mysolv / Laura Davies
Camac France (that's us) sponsors a student concert series at the Harfengalerie Camac Berlin. The aim of this series is to offer a paid recital opportunity, in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, to harpists studying in Germany.
Harfengalerie Camac Berlin. Photo: Jens Schumann
On June 3rd at 11AM, we're delighted to welcome two young artists from Godelieve Schrama's class in Detmold: Jasmin-Isabel Kühne and Hanna Rabe. We're looking forward to an hour's coffee concert featuring works by Rameau, Philippe Hersant, Tournier, Petrassi, Britten and Renié.
There will also be FREE entry and FREE coffee. To reserve a place (space is limited), please contact the Harfengalerie Camac Berlin:
Gardes-du-Corps-Str. 3
14059 Berlin-Charlottenburg
Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 30 - 21 97 11 76
info@harfengalerie.de
I'm really looking forward to this concert - it's a great programme by two super young artists. I'm particularly looking forward to Petrassi's 'Flou' - I realised when I got Jasmin and Hanna's programme that I've not heard this fantastic piece for ages. And David and Mike make a mean cup of coffee: all in all, an excellent way to spend a Sunday morning.
Continue reading "Student Recital Series at the Harfengalerie Camac Berlin" »
The pop harp world is going from strength to strength: we never cease to be surprised and delighted by what artists from all over the world are doing with our electric harps. While Jakez was in Taiwan, he was very impressed by Paige Su, with whom he performed a concert as part of the Camac Harp Day. He emailed me afterwards about her, so I immediately set about the onerous side of my job that is surfing YouTube and iTunes.
Described by the Taipei Times as “one to watch”, Paige Su is a harpist, flautist, and singer-songwriter: an exceptionally diverse musician with equally broad formal training. Quite a lot of her web presence is in Chinese, so it’s great that she had time for an English-language interview with Harpblog. In any case, one of the best things about music is that ultimately there are no language barriers.
On her study background
“I started Western classical training at the age of eight (piano), picked up the flute at eleven, and continued studying with private teachers. I graduated from Taipei’s Hwa-Kang Arts High School (music department) in 2001, majoring in flute and minoring in piano.
Then I was accepted to the University of North Texas College of Music in 2002, majoring in Music Performance (Flute). In 2003, I started secondary study in Harp (I didn’t think about it too much at the time. I just loved the sound and the instrument so much), and soon I was accepted as a double major in Flute and Harp Performance. At the same time, I was awarded the George Moray Flute Scholarship.
When I was fifteen, I started dreaming about becoming a jazz musician. UNT has a world-renowned Jazz program, so I was able to learn a lot and be involved in a very diverse musical environment. Other than Western classical and jazz, I was strongly influenced by world music, especially South Indian (Carnatic) music. I had a great teacher for that, Poovalur Srinivasan.
After graduating from UNT in 2006, I travelled to South India many times, for up to six months at a time, doing further research and studying the Carnatic flute. Currently, I’m also a founding member of a world- fusion group called “Coromandel Express.” This group combines Indian and Western music, and in the group I play flute and harp, as well as provide some vocals.
If you are among Harpblog's legions of devoted daily readers, you'll remember that we were in Taipei at the beginning of April. Shannon Cheih organised a fascinating, multimedia concert showcasing the blue harp, and starring Isabelle Perrin playing Sikora's 'South Shore' blue harp concertino. This was followed by a day of workshops and further concerts.
Shannon and Meng-Lu Chiu (of the Taiwan Harp Center and our new partner in Taipei) have kindly sent us the following photos. It is brilliant when we get feedback on events we've been involved in, and we're very grateful to Shannon and Meng-Lu for taking the trouble.
Isabelle Perrin performs 'South Shore: Concerto for Blue Harp and Orchestra', by Elzbieta Sikora
Isabelle Perrin and Shannon Cheih perform Malecki's double Concertino in Old Style
Isabelle Perrin's masterclass
Jakez teaches a jazz workshop
Jakez performs with Paige Su (more about her in my next post!)
Everyone together
The annual festival all about the blue harp - l'Odyssée de la harpe - will take place in Bourg-La-Reine on the 11th and 12th of May, 2012. This festival, created in 2006 thanks to the fantastic efforts of Ghislaine Petit-Volta, has become an essential fixture in the electric harp world calendar, and is responsible for an ever-expanding, substantial body of repertoire for the instrument across diverse genres.
This year, the festival will see the world premiere of no less than nine blue harp works, by André Feydy, Lindolfo Bicalho, Minjung Woo and Guilhem Rosa. Commissioned by the Communauté d’Agglomération des Hauts de Bièvre, they have been specially written for Florence Bourdon and Marianne Le Mentec's harp classes at the Bourg-la-Reine/Sceaux Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental, and will also involve the percussion, dance, vocal and choral departments.
In addition to the festival's trademark new music showcase, the professors will give a concert focused around Debussy and Ton That Tiet, and an intriguing chamber opera version of Moby Dick, by Jonathan Kerr.
For more information and ticket reservations, please contact:
Auditorium du Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental de Musique, Danse, Art Dramatique de Bourg-la-Reine/Sceaux
11-13 Bd Carnot, 92340 Bourg-la-Reine, France
Tél. : +33 (0)1 41 87 12 84
We're loving this poster of Isabelle Moretti, Jakez and some impressive-looking Chinese characters! It is for the final concert of the Third China Harp Festival, which will take place tomorrow in the Forbidden City Concert Hall, at 2PM. What a great venue - best of luck to everyone performing!
