USA International Harp Competition at IUB July 4-15

By Susan Lyon

IU harpist Susann McDonald founded the international competition. Audience opportunities abound, from world-class competitors and international performers who will demonstrate that the harp is more than a 'heavenly instrument.' The competition culminates July 15 with a free concert at the MAC.

To win, participating harpists must “outwit, outplay and outlast” other world-class competitors during this intensive 11-day, four-stage event.

For the harp world, the competition is not only the premier event of its kind in the United States, but also the most generous throughout the world. In addition to cash prizes, the first-place winner will be rewarded with: a specially designed gold concert harp (valued at $55,000); a recording contract; and debut concerts in London, Paris, Tokyo and Fukui, Japan, Seattle and at New York’s Alice Tully Hall. Previous gold medalists have gone on to perform with the world’s top orchestras as well as having careers as solo concert artists, a rarity in the harp world.

All four stages of the competition, including the dramatic final stage with full orchestra, are free and open to the public at the IU Musical Arts Center at 7 p.m. on July 15.

During the two-week event, audiences also will have the opportunity to hear four of the harp world’s most acclaimed artists. Park Stickney challenges the “heavenly” image of the instrument by playing everything from rock classics such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, to jazz standards like Take Five. The setting for Stickney’s Hot Jazz Harp July 10 concert will take place at the Fourwinds Resort and Marina on Lake Monroe.

Classical music lovers will enjoy the Harp of Gold concert by Xavier de Maistre, gold-medal winner of the 1998 USA International Harp Competition, on July 7. In addition to performing concerts around the world, the French musician currently serves as the principal harpist for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Emphasizing both the international appeal as well as the historic roots of the harp—considered the world’s oldest instrument—the competition will present Dreams of Ancient China, a concert by celebrated Chinese artist Cui Jun Zhi on July 12. Cui recently brought about a renaissance in the use of an ancient Chinese harp, the konghou, first, by assisting Chinese conservators in reconstructing the instrument, then, by standardizing techniques with which to play it. The konghou harp fell into disuse after the Song Dynasty, about 1,000 years ago. Now considered the world’s foremost konghou master, Cui will introduce both harpists and non-harpists to this extraordinary and rare instrument.

Jane Yoon of Seoul, Korea, was only 13 last year when she won the advanced division of the 12th Nippon Harp Competition in Soka, Japan. She will share her talents during a July 8 concert entitled Harp and Seoul at 2 p.m. at IU’s Auer Hall.

The USA International Harp Competition takes place every three years. It was founded by renowned harpist Susann McDonald who now serves as the competition’s artistic director. Formerly the head of the harp department at The Juilliard School, she currently holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of music at IU, where she heads the world’s largest harp department.

A much sought-after teacher, McDonald made her concert debut at Carnegie Hall at age 23, and was the first American to receive the Premier Prix in harp from the Paris Conservatory. She has gone on to have an extraordinary career as a solo recitalist and guest soloist with the world’s great orchestras. Her students have held prestigious orchestra positions in the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Orchestra Nationale de France and the Berlin Philharmonic, to name but a few. Many of her students also are among the most prominent teachers and concert harpists in the world.

For more information about the USA International Harp Competition, E-mail harpcomp@indiana.edu.