We have a winner!!!

Just a quick update (we are currently at the reception...:)

Vasilisa Lushchevskaya won the 3rd Prize
Rino Kageyama won the 2nd Prize and the Jan Jennings Prize for the best performance of the Gliere Concerto
Agnes Clement won the 1st Prize, including a custom-made Lyon & Healy harp. We were inspecting it earlier...it is so beautiful. We tried to convince the competition workers to let us have it, but they decided that wasn't such a good idea.

Also, 4th-8th prizes were awarded as follows:
Coline-Marie Orliac won the 4th Prize
Jimin Lee won the 5th Prize
Ruriko Yamamiya won the 6th Prize
Gwenllian Llyr won the 7th Prize
Marta Marinelli won the 8th Prize

More updates about the reception, the performances, etc will come later on. For now, it's off to eat cake!

Ever yours,
Harpo Marks

And Then There Were 3...

We are down to the top three finalists, who will perform Tournier's "la danse du moujik" and the Gliere Concerto for Harp and Orchestra with the Indiana University Summer Festival Orchestra. Congratulations to Agnes Clement, Rino Kageyama, and Vasilisa Lushchevskaya! Also, congratulations to the girls who competed in Stage III. The unanimous decision here is that the level of playing was extraordinary, and that all demonstrated artistry and technical brilliance. We have been so fortunate to meet such talented and lovely people here, and really, we consider all of them winners.

At 7 pm on Saturday evening in the Indiana University Musical Arts Center, the three finalists will perform, and the gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded. The 4th-8th prizes will also be announced, along with the special prizes for the best performances of the Gliere concerto and Maganuco's Awakening Stillnesses. The MAC seats upwards of 1200 hundred, and harp celebrities from all over are flying in tomorrow and Saturday to come experience the magic of finals. (There is a rumor that Johnny Depp is also coming, but that can't be confirmed :) It will be a fantastic ceremony, and we can't wait! In the meantime, the finalists had rehearsal today with the Festival Orchestra conductor and a pianist, and tomorrow is a rehearsal with the full orchestra. The final run-through will be on Saturday morning.

When not listening to the competition, admiring the plethora of harps provided by Lyon & Healy for the contestants, or running over to Copper Cup for regular caffeine boosts, we have also had the opportunity to experience some wonderful concerts, including the Stars of Tomorrow concert and 2004 gold medal winner Emmanuel Ceysson. Emmanuel's concert, was, in a word, incredible. It was a completely French program, opening with the Faure Impromptu and ending with Grandjany's Rhapsodie. Also on the program were Renie's Legende, two Debussy Preludes, the Tournier Sonatine, Salzedo's Ballade, and Faure's Une chatelaine en sa tour. The level of technique alone was mind-blowing (at almost every piece the word "wow" could be heard coming from several different audience members), but his musicianship was also spectacular. The notes seemed to hang in the air, and he held complete control over both the tone of the harp and the interpretations. There were so many beautiful moments, and the standing ovation and encore testified to how much people enjoyed the concert. A funny story, though: during the encore, an elderly lady loudly opened the door into the hall and proceeded to march down the aisle and through the backstage door...while he was still playing! At least it didn't happen during the competition.

A topic that has come up several times during the competition is the outfits and shoes that the competitors wear. Generally, Stage I is the most "casual." With a few exceptions, the competitors wore a tea-length or knee-length dress, or an all-black ensemble. Stage II was slightly dressier--a popular dress choice being long, dark or solid colored dresses. Stage III is a recital and thus the girls wore typical concert gown attire. Blue, green, red, pink, white...all were worn, and it was fun to see each competitor's personality through their outfit choice. Vasilisa's dress in particular was stunning. It was ivory, with gold sparkles running from one shoulder down across the front. So beautiful. Although we are looking forward to hearing the extraordinary playing on Saturday night, we are also really excited to see the concert dresses. If possible we will upload pictures.

In regard to shoes, contestants are split on whether heels or flats are better. Some say that flats allow you to feel the pedals better, and that they are more comfortable to play in. Others think that heels make it easier to change pedals while providing the support that flats lack. And then some really don't have a preference and play in whatever they like. We have yet to see a contestant try to perform barefoot...I suppose that is a good thing!

Tomorrow is a relatively free day, and the contestants and board members have a pool party planned for tomorrow afternoon. With the hot, humid weather that Bloomington has been having, it will be a perfect time.

Stay tuned for more!

Best,

Harpo Marks

We have the Elite 8!

Hello lovely harpists and harp enthusiasts!

Stage II is officially behind us, and Stage III is right around the corner. In case you haven't heard, here are the 8 contestants who have survived two stages and will move on to the third. In performance order:

Gwenllian Llyr, United Kingdom (Wales)

Coline-Marie Orliac, France

Agnès Clément, France

Rino Kageyama, Japan

Ruriko Yamamiya, Japan

Jimin Lee, United Kingdom / South Korea

Marta Marinelli, Italy

Vasilisa Lushchevskaya, Russia

Congratulations to everyone who played in Stage II...you were all incredible!

Stage III begins tomorrow at 3 pm. There is a composer forum beforehand at 12:30, where composers will be presenting their works. It will also feature the runner-up compositions for the USA IHC composition competition; students from Peabody Conservatory, along with professor Ruth Inglefield, will be performing the works. The composition contest winner, Awakening Stillnesses, will be heard in the competition itself, as it is the required work for Stage III. Speaking of which, have YOU awakened the stillnesses lately?

Tomorrow also marks the relocation of the competition performance venue from Recital Hall to Auer Hall. Although Recital Hall was convenient and had great, harp-friendly acoustics, it will be nice to sit in cushioned seats! A funny thing about the competition: during the performances, we have been plagued by the sounds of candy wrappers being opened (most of them occurring during the softest sections of the pieces.) It's been quite a nuisance, and the echoes in Recital Hall do not help with this problem. The judges seemed rather upset by all of the noise, and we overheard one judge say, jokingly, that they should announce "No candy, no dogs, no cats, and no goldfish." (We agree.) Hopefully all will be resolved in Auer Hall!

After the results were posted, we tracked down Welsh harpist Gwenllian Llyr in a practice room (where else?) and extrapolated some information from her, including her past competitions, favorite pieces in the USA competition, and plans for the future.

Gwen is 22 years old, and a recent graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with Caryl Thomas. In the fall, she is moving to London to begin post-school life as a harpist (note to all Londonfolk--she is fantastic!) If completing a degree and planning a move aren't enough, the USA IHC is her 3rd international competition in 1 year. She also competed in the International Harp Contest in Israel (where she was one of six semi-finalists) and the International Harp Competition in the Netherlands, where she also was a semi-finalist. How exactly did she manage to learn 17 pieces in so little time? "I just didn't live," she told us. "I chained myself to the harp. I didn't really do that, of course. It was helpful that there were some pieces that overlapped." Even with the overlap, it is an overwhelming amount of music to learn, but having listened to her in both Stage I and II, it is obvious that she has been able to not only learn everything, but also master it. (Her Stage II Bach was positively enchanting.) In Stage III, which is comprised of free choices plus two required works, she will be performing the Faure Une chatelaine en sa tour (one of her favorite pieces), Mathius' Sante Fe Suite, two Scarlatti Sonatas, Caplet Divertissements a la francaise, Awakening Stillnesses and Un Sospiro. We cannot wait to listen to her tomorrow afternoon!

Come back soon for more engaging topics such as Performance Poll: Heels or Flats?, Dress for Harp Success, Profiles in [Musical] Courage: an overview of the judges at the competition, and more!

That's it for now! In closing, we leave you with an actual quote from an email we received recently.

Very, truly, and warmly sincerely yours,

~Harpo Marks

Note: We have been hearing from several people that a blog following the 8th USA International Harp Competition would be a great addition. So, without further ado, here it is!

Greetings from Bloomington, Indiana, where Stage II of the USA International Harp Competition is about to begin. 18 of the original 39 contestants passed to this stage, and the first performer will begin at 2 pm today. Here are the contestants who will be competing, in order of performance:

Hinako Hara
Gwenllian Llyr
Coline-Marie Orliac
Lena-Maria Buchberger
Elizaveta Bushueva
Valerie Milot
Agnes Clement
Cecile Monsinjon
Rino Kageyama
Agne Keblyte
Marta Marinelli
Katrina Szederkenyi
Hannah Kuipers
Ruriko Yamamiya
Emilie Jaulmes
Li-Ya Huang
Jimin Lee
Vasilisa Lushchevskaya

Having listened to all of the competitors in Stage I, it is clear that the competitors are extremely talented harpists, and the performance level is fantastic. It makes sitting in the recital hall for 7 hours a day much easier, and the process of judging much harder! A side note about the recital hall: the seats are all wooden, and after day one of Stage I, it became clear that we needed to buy cushions for the judges. (cushions and sparkling water are both essential aspects of this competition.) Now, attractive red cushions decorate the jury rows, and it is our personal opinion that they coordinate nicely with the wood stain of the chairs.

As the competitors perform, we will bring you exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage, including post-performance interviews and what really goes on inside all of the practice rooms. But for now, it's back to moving harps and moving those seat cushions into the hall. If there are any requests for any information let us know - any specific competitors or jury members you would like us to interview; questions about the inner-workings of the competition or anything else harp related. You could also ask for love advice or advice about the stock market, but the answers might not be quite as reliable.

Stay tuned for more coverage!

~Harpo Marks

PS: Anyone else excited for the World Cup final? We will be giving updates between performers today :)