sECOND WALEs INTERNATIONAL HARP ... - les harpes camac

This year, Camac Harps chose Lille as the setting for their festival. Right in the ancienttown centre, rich in art and history, at the end of the picturesque Rue de la Monnaie,the Conservatoire de Musique warmly opened their doors to us – including those of themagnificent auditorium, in cream, crimson and gold! This festival, as you know, is particularlydear to our hearts. Over the course of three evenings, we have the wonderful opportunityto meet harpists from all six corners of France, and to present our team and our harpsto them. Above all, our aim is to celebrate the harp and harpists by inviting today’s bestartists to play. Harp concerts, whatever harp it may be, are rare, in Paris and even more soin the provinces. This is why we are committed to this touring festival, involving harpists ofinternational stature and of diverse talents. The fan have to be rich, colored, dazzling so thatits breath continues for a long time in hearts!Eclecticism, quality, warmth and conviviality came together beautifully, giving a delicioustaste of the holidays and an Indian summer to these three days in Lille. Everyone was ableto find a workshop and concert to their taste, let themselves be surprised and delighted,and draw on precious energy and motivation for the start of the academic year. The openingevening of the festival, Friday October 2 nd , was entirely dedicated to the classicalharp. We welcomed a succession of young talentsand famous names onto the stage for a concert entitled«Great Repertoire of the Harp». The lovely and2/4 Octobre 2009perfectly balanced duo Harpéole (Marion Ralincourt,flute and Lucie Marical, harp) performed a programfont leurin the festival’s image – varied. Their interpretationsof J.S. Bach, Ivan Fedele and Bela Bartok were dynamic,masterful and imbued with clear joy in playing.Next came David Lootvoet, solo harpist at the Parishold theirOpera. Under false airs of shyness, he dazzled us withthe power, clarity and precision of his interpretationsof works by Couperin, Mozart, Chopin and Balakirev.Festival… in LILLEFinally, Marie-Claire Jamet and Christian Lardé, aided and abetted by Marie Chilemme onviola, enchanted us as usual with the Deux divertissements by André Caplet and the Sonateen Trio by Claude Debussy. They also surprised us with the first performance of a sonataby Nadermann.The «Harpélidoscope» concert on Saturday, October 3rd, was also celebratory! It beganwith what was a moving first for me and I think for a large number of the public: the discoveryof Luisa Prandina, solo harpist at La Scala, Milan. Everyone was captivated by the warmth,power, cleanness and virtuosity of her playing, and the brio of her program : Corelli,Viotti, Rota, Albeniz and Salzedo. A huge THANK YOU to her! She was a hard act to followfor those playing after her, but Corinna Hewatt proved a successful challenger. Her poeticperformance on the lever harp transported us as if by magic from Italy’s golden colours tothe bewitching mists of the Scottish Highlands. The last and by no means the least journeyof the evening was offered by Edmar Castaneda and his accomplice of moment, GabrieleMirabasi : of the never heard neither seen for the most part of the audience ! Gabriele’sjazz clarinet and Edmar’s Columbian harp gave us breathtaking rhythms, amazing improvisations,and again great joy in performing. They gave themselves over fully to their music,raising the roof of the full-to-bursting hall. If you haven’t heard him yet, don’t miss a chanceto discover Edmar Castaneda!The decor, actors and ambience changed completely for the closing evening on Sunday,October 4th. Here we saw the world premiere of a piece by Hélène Breschand, for largeharp ensemble, specially commissioned by Camac Harps for the festival. It was an adventureof the sort Jakez François is fond of, enabling the collaboration of pupils of all levelswith regional teachers and an exceptional composer. Jakez and Hélène had been imaginingsuch a world premiere for a long time, and the Lille festival provided the ideal opportunityto bring the idea to fruition. The Water and the Fire is a suite of short pieces which exploreemotions through composing for and playing diverse harps. They also offer a first approachto improvisation, beginning with a very contemporary score. Thereafter, Hélène wishes that«each individual personality may draw on his own heart, in search of his own expressivity.»Atelier Edmar CastanedaCorinna HewattThese solos, duos, trios, and so on are like a card game, leaving the order and frequency ofplay to the performers’ discretion. A great voyage of discovery, rich in learning and in emotionfor the students and for the composer, was made possible thanks to the devotion andenergy of the professors. Everyone had a role to play in creating this complete show. Aural,visual, designed, staged and rehearsed, orchestra and company together, it was a real completeshow. Its guiding thread winds itself around the harps as if unraveling from a spool,imprisoning the harpists in its unpredictability, as the music is deployed. It is violent andjerky music, with rapping on the soundboards and strings that screech. But we also hearthe warm sonorities of Hélène’s voice, evoking African rhythms and a lingering sense of oldrefrains capped by snatches of spoken text. «Thread to thread, the thread unwinds»...thenthe wool breaks, the music stops, and the public draw breath again, thunderstruck by thisleap into the heart of Hélène’s universe, amazed by the performance of the students - theirchildren. Twenty-five girls and boys of all ages and stages took the final bow!Our festival is also a large harp exhibition: pedal harps, lever harps, new and second-hand.The exhibition is one of the reasons to come to the festival, to gather information, and discussand try out instruments. Who knows, you might even choose a new harp! Our latestinstrument, the MIDI harp, is once again full of promise for the future. In Lille, Jakez Françoispresented the harp for the first time in France, with the kind collaboration of DominicMurcott, head of composition at London’s Trinity College of Music. It is a harp tailored forthe music of today and especially that of tomorrow.It is a privilege to spend three days meeting regional harpists. Everyone comes togetherto exchange stories over a coffee, to encourage their passion, to reinforce one another’svocation, and to imagine their projects for tomorrow and beyond. Finally, it offers a rarechance to discover other styles, for which day-to-day life has neither the time nor audacity.For example, Edmar Castaneda gave a workshop about Latin jazz harp the day after hiswonderful concert. This was the last workshop of the festival, open to all harps, levels anddegrees of recklessness. Twenty workshop participants grouped together on the stage ofthe auditorium, in a perfect circle around Edmar, his Columbian harp and his cap. ClaudeBouly was there to help anyone who felt hesitant in English as well as in jazz. She patientlyand meticulously translated Edmar’s instructions throughout the morning. Edmar taught usthe fundamentals of South American rhythms for the left hand, and the rules of improvisationfor the right. The secret is to divide the brain in two, between the bass in the left handwhich must be regular as a metronome, and the right hand’s free improvisation with straightand broken chords as required. In the right hand, you can set up a chord and disperse itagain through syncopation, dispose of the third in passing to the fourth, or alternate thethird, the fourth and the seventh. Edmar was highly serious at times, and the work requireda lot of concentration and listening, but he also glittered with flashes of mischief! We wereswiftly given the basics and some relatively simply advice, along with examples of rhythmiceffects. Thereafter, everything depends on your motivation and how regularly you practice.You should impose repetitive exercises on yourself, building up the tempo, in order to acquirespeed, ease, confidence and the freedom to improvise on stage. Who knows, maybeyou will even play with a clarinetist like Gabriele one day!LilleThis was the 2009 Camac Festival in Lille. We are already eagerly awaiting the autumn of2010, where we will set off to a different place in the countryside again, and celebrate theharp with you!Duo HarpéoleDavid Lootvoet3

ida KitiyakaraFirst PrizeYeona Pi, Korea - Queen’s TrophySecond PrizeAurélie Blanchard, France - Silver MedalThird PrizeLaura Peh, Singapore - Bronze MedalCertificates of CommendationLinda Simanauskaite, LithuaniaLee Yun Chai, SingaporeGe Wei Cherry, SingaporeBach-Grandjany Etude PrizeYeona Pi, Etude no. 6Ten finalists, winners and judgesThe Winners’ ProgrammesYeona Pi, KoreaStage One: Etude no. 6 (Bach-Grandjany), Feerie (Marcel Tournier)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès), Fantasy on Themes from Eugene Onegin(Ektarina Walter Kühne)Aurelie Blanchard, FranceStage One: Etude no. 4 (Bach-Grandjany), Merche Megan (John Thomas)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès), Sonata in C Minor (Jan Ladislav Dussek)Laura Peh, SingaporeStage One: Etude no. 4 (Bach-Grandjany), Etude de Concert (Felix Godefroid)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès),Fantasy on a Theme of Haydn (Marcel Grandjany)Linda Simanauskaite, LithuaniaStage One: Etude no. 8 (Bach-Grandjany), Sarabanda e Toccata (Nino Rota)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès), Sonata no.3 (John Parry)Lee Yun Chai, SingaporeStage One: Etude no. 8 (Bach-Grandjany),Etude de Concert: Au Matin (Marcel Tournier)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès), Improvisations (William Mathias)Ge Wei Cherry, SingaporeStage One: Etude no.4 (Bach-Grandjany),‘Tango’ and ‘Seguidilla’ from Suite of Eight Dances (Carlos Salzedo)Stage Two: Duke (Bernard Andrès), Sonatina no.2 (Jan Ladislav Dussek)The number of people who have not heard of the Tamnak Prathom Harp Centre inBangkok, Thailand, is dwindling by the day. Founded by Sunida Kitiyakara to promotethe harp in Thailand, it is now the country’s biggest source for harp teaching, concerts– and now, an international festival and competition! In cooperation with the Ministryof Culture, Chulalongkorn University, and the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC),the First Tamnak Prathom Thailand International Harp Festival and Youth Competitionwelcomed harpists from all over the world to Bangkok between October 30th and November2nd, 2009. The festival’s theme was ‘Friendship Through Music’. As you canread in Sunida Kitiyakara’s report below, this turned out to be true both on stage, andin real life.Fantasy in Real Lifeon the Theme of the First Tamnak Prathom ThailandInternational Harp Festival and Youth Competition 2009Wang Tong-Juan is harpist at one of Bangkok’s top five star hotels. For more than tenyears, she has been the only Asian harpist in Thailand, and has a good following of fanswherever she goes. Many learned about the harp for the first time because of MissWang. What most people didn’t know is: Wang Tong-Juan was the virtuoso and prodigywho the legendary harpist Marisa Robles wanted to make her protegee, when she discoveredher as a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. But the then Chinesegovernment refused to grant her a passport, and that was that. Her old teacher, though,still remembered her. She often spoke of her wonder-student, who had so impressedMarisa Robles, and of how she wished all her students could be like her. This teacherwas also the first teacher of Jie Zhou, many years Miss Wang’s junior at the ShanghaiConservatory.Jie Zhou, now a doctoral student of Professor Helga Storck at the Salzburg Mozarteum,wasto play the Glière Harp Concerto with the Royal Thai Navy Orchestra at the closing ceremonyof the First Tamnak Prathom Thailand International Harp Festival and YouthCompetition. Held in Bangkok, Thailand, from October 30th -November 2nd, 2009,the Festival and Competition was the first of its kind to be held in Southeast Asia.The incomparable Marielle Nordmann was to arrive on the day of the rehearsal for thefestival’s first concert. Her eagerly-awaited concert was to be called The Voyager, a musicaltale told on the harp, based on Paul Coelho’s best-selling novel, The Alchemist. Noteveryone has the chance to see such a special performance by a queen of the Frenchharp world. Marielle’s presentation would be after the youth competition. Eighteen participantsfrom eight different countries are vying , in the following two days, for the firstprize trophy, presented by Her Majesty the Queen.The concert that evening was to be the first time that young Asian harpists took to thestage together with top international artists. This was a revue-style show entitled HarpExtravaganza, with state-of-the-art stage, sliding platforms, moving walls and theatre lighting.Presiding over it all was Artistic Director Elinor Bennett, who, in her contrastingbright red dress, performed the job as compere. Tong-Juan toyed with the idea of doinga medley of Handel, Mozart and Boildieu concerti, and perhaps some Hasselmans –they were pieces she had played a long time ago in school – but decided against it. Shewould be different and play The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’, and her own arrangement ofa Bach Minuet. She felt that other harpists on stage with her were much, much betterplayers and it would be an insult to the great harp pieces. Ema Mitarai, seated in anothercorner of the stage, was worried. She hoped her heels would not get caught in her longdress while doing all the busy pedals of her Japanese piece, Rokudan. No wonder thetwo Isabelles chose to wear trousers. Much easier for all those pedals. Ema was a studentin Japan of the famous Josef Molnar, the Austrian harpist who went to Japan and decidedto stay there, teaching the harp. Ema, in the same manner, came to Thailand after herstint at the Royal Northern College and has decided to stay on teaching here. Scheduledto begin the Extravaganza concert were the winsome Isis Trio from Singapore, withKatryna Tan on the harp, Cindy Yau on the violin and Natasha Liu, cello. Formed just lastyear, the trio has already toured Malaysia, Hong Kong and, for Bangkok, they had incorporateda special song into their ‘Getting To Know Music’ medley – the Thai song ‘Sabai,Sabai’, sandwiched between a James Bond theme and some Mozart. They began themedley with a fiery Malaguena, with pyrotechnics on all three instruments.Such diverse representation of the harp had never been staged before, and with somany different Asian nationalities into the bargain. Spurred on by the young talents, theshow’s compere, Elinor, also sat down at the harp to play the Welsh tune ‘ Watching theWheat ‘, with variations to match Hotel California, showing that she is ever mistress ofher instrument. Waiting in the wings were the two Isabelles of France, Isabelle Morettiand Isabelle Perrin, who played two duos – Bernard Andrès’ Parvis and Albeniz’s ‘Sevilla’from Suite Espagñola. They were the evening’s crowning glory, two of the world’s mostlovely harpists who joined the festival to support and inspire the younger generation ofharpists.There was also a surprise in store! As the platform moved back with the two Isabelles onit and the lights dimmed, one Isabelle got off, and Isabelle Moretti was joined by her ownhusband, Jakez François. What better finale can one expect for such an evening thanBernstein’s “West Side Story”, transcribed for the two of them by Jakez himself? It beganwith a jazzy introduction using The Jets’ theme, followed by ‘Tonight’, ‘Maria’, ‘Cool’,‘Two Hands One Heart’ –and a kiss on the hand from Jakez to Isabelle at the end of anunforgettable evening and, hopefully, the emergence of the harp and more harpists fromAsia and Southeast Asia.«When will the next one be?» asked several young participants, as they exchanged emailaddresses and pledged life-long friendship. Ahhh…if something good has come of theone just passed, then the second one will automatically follow soon enough. Besides,the Queen’s Trophy is for tenure only until the next festival, and Her Majesty wouldsurely like a long list of names to be carved on Thailand’s first harp trophy!BangkokJie Zhou, Royal Thai Navy Symphony OrchestraSunida Kitiyakara5

XVèmesJournées de la Harpe d’Arles24/27 octobre 2009AntoninVolsonHélène Breschand, Isabelle MorettiElisa VelliaChristine MérienneElisa VelliaFranck RenéChristophe GauvertGermaine Loenzini et ses élèvesArlesIsabelle MorettiMarie Normant , Mélanie DutreilLandy AndriamboavorjyMyriam Serfass, Catherine Manandaza7

David RescherMike DobekEvénements / EventsOuverture26/27 Septembre 2009Berlin fascine. Au cours de l’histoire, aucune autre ville n’a vuautant de changements, si fréquents et si radicaux, célébréde grandes gloires ni survécu à des décennies dramaticalementsombres. Cœur aujourd’hui de l’Allemagne réunifiée, elle est toutce que doit être une grande ville. D’étonnantes nouvelles constructions d’avant-garde ycôtoient les monuments historiques de la Vieille Europe, les scintillants opéras sont cernéspar les façades industrielles de clubs de musique conceptuelle installés sous les arches dela voie ferrée, et dans les arrières cours, des cafés surgissent autour de sculptures urbainesen fil de fer barbelé.Et pour couronner le tout, Berlin possède enfin sa première boutique entièrement dédiéeà la harpe : la Harfengalerie Camac Berlin !La Harfengalerie Camac Berlin est située dans un magnifique quartier du centre villeà dix minutes de l’aéroport Tegel, et à deux pas du pas Schloß Charlottenburg, unesplendeur baroque. La boutique, spacieuse, présente la collection complète des HarpesCamac, des partitions, des accessoires, et possède une petite scène pour les concerts etles masterclasses. L’équipe de Camac Berlin, David Rescher et Mike Dobek, peut toutmettre à votre disposition, de la harpe de concert dorée à une tasse d’excellent café, ouencore l’opportunité d’interpréter le programme de votre prochain concours devant uneaudience amicale.Le 26 septembre 2009, nous nous sommes tous rendus à Berlin pour célébrerl’inauguration de la Harfengalerie. La boutique, restée ouverte toute la journée, futanimée d’un délicieux va-et-vient de mets et de boissons préparés dans ce quiest normalement l’atelier de Mike, transfomé ce jour-là en cuisine volante deCamac. Un merci tout particulier à Iris Vossieg, Martina et Torsten Howald, KlaraPienning, Sabrina Bressler et Martha Langer, qui ont infatigablement préparé etservi les rafraîchissements ! Les harpistes se sont glissés à l’intérieur, venus essayerles harpes, assister à la présentation de la toute nouvelle harpe MIDI par Jakez, ousimplement offrir quelques fleurs à Mike et David pour leur souhaiter le meilleurpour cette nouvelle entreprise.Pour la soirée, nous nous sommes déplacés jusqu’à la Luisenkirche de laGierkeplatz, une charmante église à cinq minutes de la Harfengalerie, pour écouterun fabuleux concert donné par Isabelle Moretti et Isabelle Perrin. Chaque Isabellea offert au public des solos de virtuoses de Corelli, Haydn, Chopin et Grandjany(Isabelle Perrin), Debussy, Fauré, Balakirev et Godefroid (Isabelle Moretti). Chacune desdeux parties de ce concert fut couronnée par un duo – « Parvis » de Bernard Andrès et« Sevilla » de la Suite Espagnole Op. 47 d’Albeniz – et la soirée s’est terminée par unestanding ovation bien méritée pour ces deux magnifiques artistes.Le jour suivant, la toute nouvelle scène de la Harfengalerie Camac Berlin fut étrennéeavec une masterclass d’Isabelle Moretti. Six étudiants eurent la chance de jouer : DörtheBraun (élève de Gesine Dreyer), Jazmin-Isabel Kühne (élève de Godelieve Schrama), KlaraWoskowiak (élève d’Ewa Jaślar), Mariam Fathy (élève de Maria Graf), Jadwiga Chojnacka(élève de Staniewicz – Wasiólka) et Paul et Martha Schnieber, un jeune duo frère/soeur(élèves d’Assia Cunego). Isabelle nous a offert une charmante après-midi empreinte tout àla fois de rigueur musicale et technique, d’amitié et de joie, ce qui fait aussi partie du travaildu musicien. La technique est là pour servir la musique, avant tout : la précision rythmiqueapporte l’énergie de la danse, et une ligne mélodique régulièrement contrôlée vouspermet de chanter ce qui repose dans votre cœur. Isabelle Moretti me rappelle toujoursavec force que les heures passées à s’exercer et à travailler dur sont finalement joyeuses etlibératoires parce qu’elles vous unissent à la musique. Pourquoi le faire sinon ?Nous espérons que la Harfengalerie Camac Berlin vous rendra nos harpes plus facilementaccessibles à vous tous en Allemagne et dans les pays avoisinants. N’hésitez surtout pas àappeler, spontanément ou sur rendez-vous, si vous avez besoin d’un endroit pour travaillerà Berlin, si vous avez une idée d’événement, si vous êtes à la recherche de partitions oude cordes. Mike Dobek se forme actuellement à l’entretien des harpes, et ses confrères del’équipe Camac en France seront souvent à Berlin pour l’aider à compléter sa formation,alors n’hésitez pas de contacter la Galerie pour toute régulation ou réparation de votreharpe, quelle que soit sa marque.OpeningSeptember 26 th - 27 th , 2009Berlin is fascinating. Throughout history, no other city has seensuch frequent and radical change, celebrated great highs, andweathered dramatically darker decades. Now the heart of unifiedGermany, it is everything a great city should be. Amazing avant-gardenew buildings sit alongside historic Old European monuments, glittering opera houses areringed by industrial Konzept music clubs under the railway arches, and courtyard cafesspring up around urban sculptures made from metal and spiky wire.To crown all this, Berlin now has its first shop exclusively devoted to the harp - HarfengalerieCamac Berlin!Harfengalerie Camac Berlin is in a beautiful, central setting just ten minutes away fromTegel airport, next to the baroque splendour of the Schloß Charlottenburg. The shop itselfis spacious, offers Camac’s full range of harps, music and accessories, and also has a smallstage for concerts and masterclasses. Camac Berlin team David Rescher and Mike Dobekcan furnish you with everything from a golden concert harp to an excellent cup of coffee,or a chance to perform your next competition programme to a sympathetic audience.On September 26 th , 2009, we all arrived in Berlin for Harfengalerie’s opening celebrations.The shop was open all day with a delicious stream of food and drink prepared in whatis normally Mike‘s workshop, made over for the day into an extended kitchen Camac.Particular thanks here to Iris Vossieg, Martina und Torsten Howald, Klara Piening,Sabrina Bressler and Martha Langer, who worked so tirelessly preparing and serving therefreshments! Harpists streamed in to try the harps, watch Jakez demonstrate our newMIDI harp, and to give Mike and David flowers and wish them well in their newventure.In the evening, we repaired to the Luisenkirche am Gierkeplatz, an attractivechurch five minutes from the Harfengalerie, for a fabulous concert by IsabelleMoretti and Isabelle Perrin. Each Isabelle treated the audience to virtuoso solosby Corelli, Haydn, Chopin and Grandjany (Isabelle Perrin), and Debussy, Fauré,Balakirev and Godefroid (Isabelle Moretti). Both concert halves were crowned byduets - Parvis by Bernard Andrès, and Albeniz’s ‘Sevilla’ from the Suite EspagñolaOp. 47 - and the evening concluded with a thoroughly-deserved standing ovationfor these two wonderful artists.The following day, Harfengalerie Camac Berlin’s new stage was christened by amasterclass from Isabelle Moretti. Six students had the chance to play: DörtheBraun (Prof. Gesine Dreyer), Jazmin-Isabel Kühne (Prof. Godelieve Schrama), KlaraWoskowiak (Prof. Ewa Jaślar), Mariam Fathy (Prof. Maria Graf), Jadwiga Chojnacka (Prof.Staniewicz – Wasiólka), and Paul and Martha Schnieber, a young brother/sister duo (Prof.Assia Cunego). Isabelle gave us a lovely afternoon full of both technical and musical rigour,and the friendship and joy that also belong to musicmaking.Technique exists to serve music, after all:rhythmic accuracy brings out the energy of a dance,and an evenly controlled melodic line allows you tosing what lies in your heart. Isabelle Moretti alwaysreminds me so strongly that the hours of practice andhard work are finally joyful and liberating, becausethey bring you and music together. Why do it,otherwise?We hope that Harfengalerie Camac Berlin will makeour harps more easily accessible for all of you inGermany and neighbouring countries. Please don‘thesitate to call in, spontaneously or by appointment,if you need somewhere to practise in Berlin, if youhave an idea for an event, and if you want to browsemusic and strings. Mike Dobek is currently trainingto be a harp technician, and his colleagues from theCamac central team will be in Berlin frequently tohelp him complete his training, so please also feelfree to contact the Galerie about harp regulation andrepairs for any make of harp.@nnonces@nnouncements8Retrouvez désormais nos @nnoncesencore plus nombreuses,encore plus détailléesen vous connectant :soit sur notre site www.camac-harps.comsoit sur notre blog www.harpblog.infoVous avez aimé ce numéro de HARPSEASONS ?Like this issue of HARPSEASONS ?Vous pouvez en faire profiter gratuitement vos amis harpistesen nous envoyant les informations suivantes :You can get your harpist friends to enjoy it free of chargeby sending us the following information :Nom / Name - Adresse / Address - Ville / City - Code Postal / Zip Code - Pays / Country - E-mailHARPSEASONS - Florence LEDI-MARQUE12 rue Philippe De Lassalle - 69004 LYON - FRANCE - f.ledi@camac-harps.comFrom now on find our news and@nnouncementseven more numerous andin even more détailby logging ontoeither our website www.camac-harps.comor our blog www.harpblog.infowww.aba-com.com