Harpblog

Camac harp exhibition in Lübeck, Germany

Harfengalerie / Camac Berlin will be on the road on November 19th, 2009, to put on a harp exhibition at the Lübeck Musikhochschule (2 - 7PM).  You can try out the harps (which are available to rent as well as to buy), order music and strings, and meet David Rescher and Mike Dobek, Harfengalerie / Camac Berlin's team.  Feel free to give them a ring in advance on +49 30 21 97 11 76 / +49 163 717 30 17, if you have specific requests. 

Harfenausstellung am 19.11.2009 in Lübeck - hiermit laden wir Sie herzlich ein!

Am Donnerstag, den 19.11.09 haben wir im Rahmen des Aktionstages 'Musik für Alle' eine Harfenausstellung in den Räumlichkeiten der Musikhochschule Lübeck für Sie organisiert, die von 14.00 bis 19.00 Uhr stattfinden wird.

Sie sind herzlich willkommen unsere Harfen probe zu spielen, sich beraten zu lassen und das Team der Harfengalerie Camac Berlin e.K. persönlich kennen zu lernen.

Die von uns mitgebrachten Instrumente, sowohl Haken- und Pedalharfen, können nicht nur käuflich erworben werden, sondern wir bieten auch sehr viele unserer hochwertigen Harfenmodelle zu fairen Konditionen zur Miete an!

Wenn Sie besondere Wünsche haben, für diesen Tag Noten oder Saiten bestellen möchten, oder ein ganz bestimmtes Harfenmodell ausprobieren möchten, so kontaktieren Sie uns bitte vorab. Gerne versuchen wir dann, Ihre Wünsche zu erfüllen und entsprechende Instrumente unverbindlich mit nach Lübeck zu bringen.

Ceren Necipoğlu memorial concert in Berlin

On November 25th, 2009, at 2000 in the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, Florence Sitruk and colleagues will give a concert in memory of Turkish harpist Ceren Necipoğlu.   Ceren was tragically killed in the Air France flight 447 crash of June 1st, 2009, on her way home from the international harp festival in Rio de Janeiro. 

Ceren Necipoğlu

The concert will include works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert and a world premiere by Samir Odeh-Tamimi.  Tickets cost ten euros and are available from the Konzerthaus website, or under +40 30 20309 2101.   

Download flyer for Ceren Necipoglu memorial concert in Berlin

the First Thamnak-Prathom International Harp Festival and Youth Competition, Bangkok

Toi toi toi to Sunida Kitiyakara, Artistic Director Elinor Bennett and all at the first Thamnak-Prathom International Harp Festival and Youth Competition, which begins on Thursday in Bangkok! You can find details of the competitors and daily events on the home site, Harpblog's earlier report, and on the festival's facebook group. 

The theme of the competition is "friendship through music", and it's also really nice - and imaginative -  that scholarships for participants in the youth competition have been organised, paying the flights and hotels of many.

 

 

compositions commissioned by Camac

Still on the subject of new harp repertoire, Jakez recently made a list of some of the works Camac has commissioned over the last few years.

Hélène Breschand    

Le Fil Rouge, harp ensemble (Camac Festival, Lille 2009)

Philippe Hersant     

Choral for harp and cello (for Isabelle Moretti, 2004)

Elzbieta Sikora       

South Shore:  Concertino for Harp and Orchestra (with the Polish Harp Society, Second Polish International Harp Festival, 2008)

Pierick Houdy        

De cordes et d'archets for Lever or Pedal Harp and String Quartet (Jakez François International Lever Harp Competition, 2009)

Carlos Franzetti       

Suite de las Americas for Harp and Orchestra (for Edmar Casteneda, 2009)

Arne Werkman        

Quatre Pièces (Journées de la harpe, Arles 2005)

Alain Louvier          

L'Harpenteur Etrange (Paris and Boulogne-Billancourt Conservatoires, 2009)

Michèle Reverdy      

Concerto for Harp (for Isabelle Moretti, 2006)

Guo Wenjing          

Concerto for Harp, Lyric Soprano and Chamber Orchestra (for Ernestine Stoop, 2001)

Some Western Wind

More blue harp repertoire news from Swedish jazz harpist Stina Hellberg. Together with classical composer Patrik Jarlestam, Stina has written a work for blue harp and orchestra, "Some Western Wind", which will be premiered on November 21st as part of the Sandviken Symphony Orchestra's seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations. 

Stina Hellberg.  Photo:  Matts Hellberg

"Some Western Wind" is inspired by the music of Dave Holland, Stina's favourite jazz musician, together with Afro-Cuban and Swedish folk elements.  The work also fuses classical concerto and more improvisatory jazz forms.  There is an extended harp solo, for example, where the double bass, vibraphone and percussion can form a jazz quartet with the harp and improvise together. 

In a manner comparable to Elzbieta Sikora's blue harp concertino "South Shore", Stina and Patrik leave many of the sound processing effects possible on the blue harp up to the performer.  Stina uses some delay combined with soft reverb, but other performers are free to choose something else. 

15th journées de la harpe in Arles

The fifteenth Journées de la harpe in Arles start today.  This is a fantastic annual harp festival, with a jam-packed programme featuring the cream of the harp world.  I've never seen so many world-class artists together outside the World Harp Congress!

Guest of Honour Germaine Lorenzini - read Florence's extended interview with Germaine in the current issue of Harpseasons. 

Browse the programme to find out more about, among others:  solo recitals by Emmanuel Ceysson and Sivan Magen;  a duo presentation by Isabelle Moretti and Hélène Breschand; Christine and Thierry Lutz's jazz harp and marimba Duo Swing;  a presentation of Camac's MIDI harp by Jakez François and Arnaud Roy;  a meeting over coffee and chocolate with guest of honour Germaine Lorenzini;  numerous chamber music programmes;  a jazz workshop and concert with Park Stickney; Paraguayan music;  some of the most famous Celtic harp players in the world, such as Myrdhin; a daily youth concert...this is the longest sentence ever published on Harpblog.

Evening concerts after 9PM cost €22, with concessions at €16 and €8.  Everything else is free, as long as places last.  

 

Cantare!

The English poet WH Auden observed with relief that "no good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible."  Throughout his career, he strove to bring his own craft of words closer to song: direct, heartfelt and true. 

Two great virtuosi explore the art of song in a CD that was released yesterday.  For this her latest recording, Isabelle Moretti invited a singer she has always admired, Dame Felicity Lott.  The result is Cantare:  the Voice of the Harp, now out on the Naive label.  It's a lovely collection of songs, from Donizetti, Poulenc and Britten, to folksongs and two Cancions by Ginastera.  The are also pieces where the harp sings alone:  Zabel's Fantasie on Gounod's Faust, Isabelle's own transcription of Glinka / Balakirev's beautiful L'Alouette ("the lark"), the Carnaval de Venise by Godefroid, and movements from Debussy's Suite Bergamasque.

Here you can download the Cantare Press release, which includes details of Isabelle Moretti's upcoming concerts.  The Cantare launch concert with Dame Felicity will take place on December 21st, 2009, at 8PM at the Paris Comic Opera.  

You can also download either the whole album or individual tracks here, and listen to sample excerpts.

Janet Harbison in Paris

Camac Harps's "Carte Blanche" series consist of a workshop followed by a concert at the Espace Camac in Paris.   Recent appearances have included traditional Breton harpist Anne Postic, a British day shared between Imogen Barford and Keziah Thomas, and an entire weekend dedicated to and in the presence of Bernard Andrès, which you can read about in the latest Harpseasons.  

We are now delighted to welcome Janet Harbison on Sunday, November 15th, 2009, who will give a workshop and concert exploring the Irish harp.  Harpists with any level of experience are welcome at the workshop, where Janet will unlock the secrets of traditional Irish music, from a basic melody to more intricate variations.  At 6PM we will all have a chance to hear how it's really done, when Janet takes to the stage herself with a mixture of traditional airs, and her own compositions.

 

Jakez and Daniel in China

Jakez recently went to China with Camac's chief technician Daniel Piré, to service harps in the Beijing area.  They had plenty to do, because many Chinese orchestras and music schools have chosen Camac harps - including the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, the National Center for the Performing Arts (better known as the Beijing Opera), and the China Royal Military Band - who were especially pleased to have their harp serviced before their performance as the Chinese National Celebrations' main band.

Daniel on the Great Wall of China!

Jakez and Daniel were warmly welcomed by their hosts, Camac's Chinese representatives  Beijing Aria Cultural Development.  Mr Wu Duoli, the company's director, organised everything so smoothly that there was even time to visit the Great Wall of China!  Jakez and Daniel also had a Chinese gourmet meal hosted by Mr Gao, director of the Aria company.  This included rice wine, Chinese red wine and Chinese beer, and an excellent time was had by all.  At the end of the stay, there was a farewell dinner with Mr Wei Lilin and Ms Wan Guan, both teachers at the Beijing Conservatory, and Mrs Wei Lilin, who is also a harpist.  We are pleased to hear that the harp teachers and players who brought their instruments to be serviced had found the service exceptional, beyond anything they had experienced by any other brand.  

As you can see, it was a real pleasure for Jakez and Daniel to go on tour! Camac runs regulation tours to anywhere in the world they are needed.  Contact us via the technical section of the Camac website if you would like to discuss having your harp regulated, or to organise a regulation tour to your area.

Emerald

Breton Celtic harp legend Alan Stivell's latest album, 'Emerald', is going to be released on October 22nd.  You can already download the album's first track from Itunes: "Brittany - Ar bleizi mor". 

I first blogged about Alan in my article about the history of the lever harp in Brittany.  He is one of the most famous performers of Celtic music in Brittany, on the harp, but also throughout the world.  One of the most influential players in the Celtic Revival movement (the resurgence of interest in Celtic music in the 1970s, which continues to this day), Alan's fusion of traditional music with countless other genres is both tireless and remarkable.  You will hear Celtic rock, Breton rock, electro rock, hip-hop, even Indian ragas, all putting the music of Alan's native Breton culture onto the international map, and always finding new, modern voices.  Alan is also the father of the electroharp, as you can read about here.