The Toronto Worldwide Harp Pageant — iHarp — makes its debut this summer season, with per week’s price of concert events and occasions celebrating the instrument and its wealthy historical past. It takes place from July 7 to 13 on the Aga Khan Museum.
Performers, educators, and music lovers will benefit from the collection of concert events, workshops, and masterclasses. The aim to encourage a brand new technology of harpists, shock audiences, and to bolster the presence of the 5,000 12 months outdated instrument within the twenty first century.
The music showcased will embody each historic and up to date types, underscoring the versatile nature of the instrument.
The organizing group contains French harpist Catherine Michel, Kathleen Bride, Professor of harp at Eastman College of Music, and Canadian harpist Andrew Chan of Harps on the Hill College.
“We’ll rejoice the harp’s artistry, its 5000 years of historical past, and its extraordinary potential to unite
audiences throughout cultures and generations,” stated Catherine Michel in a press release. “This competition will supply each inspiration and instruments to assist younger and skilled harpists excel of their careers, discover new musical horizons, and combine their historic instrument into up to date contexts.”
Pageant Organizers
Catherine Michel
Catherine Michel studied harp, piano and music concept as a baby together with her mom in her native metropolis of Amiens, France. She later entered the Nationwide Conservatoire for Dance and Music in Paris. At age 15, she was was awarded a First Prize diploma on the Conservatoire. It might be the primary of many awards and competitions. She carried out with the Radio France Nationwide Orchestra, after which the Paris Opera, and several other different orchestras.
Catherine has an in depth catalogue as a recording artist, together with beloved and lesser recognized repertoire, and an album of movie music in collaboration with Michel Legrand, which gained the French Victoires de la Musique Award.
Right now, she works primarily as a soloist and instructor.
Kathleen Bride
Kathleen Bride is a graduate of Marywood School (PA), and The Juilliard College. She has carried out as a recitalist in Europe and all through america, together with as a soloist on a European tour Juilliard Ensemble of Up to date Music and composer Luciano Berio. She has recorded albums of up to date chamber music.
Since 1978, she an organist Jon Gillock have toured the US as duo-recitalists. Bride additionally performs repeatedly with British flutist Judith Pearce.
Earlier than taking on the place at The Eastman College in 1989, Kathleen was chairman of the harp division at Manhattan College of Music. Right now, alongside together with her longstanding appointment at Eastman, she is a member of the visiting school of the Royal Northern School of Music in Manchester, England.
Andrew Chan
Pageant Creative Director Andrew Chan Toronto-based Andrew Chan is an alumnus of the Nationwide Youth Orchestra of Canada, Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, and the Nationwide Academy Orchestra of Canada. He started his research of the harp in Vancouver with Elizabeth Volpѐ Bligh, Principal Harp of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
He has since established a busy profession as each performer and educator. As a performer, he’s performed on levels throughout North America and Asia, and held the Principal Harp seat for a decade with the Orchestra Toronto below the late Kerry Stratton. He was not too long ago an Artist-In-Residence on the Eastman College of Music.
Alongside together with his live performance calendar dates, Chan is a devoted educator whose college students have gone on to win awards, scholarships, and auditions, and have entered prestigious music colleges, such because the Juilliard College, McGill, Cleveland Institute of Music, and plenty of others.
Toronto Worldwide Harp Pageant: Q&A
We requested Creative Director Andrew Chan a couple of questions concerning the instrument and the competition.
I feel folks make lots of assumptions concerning the harp and its sound, however it has a lot extra potential. Is there lots of curiosity within the harp and what it has to supply twenty first century musicians in Toronto?
With Harps on the Hill College positioned within the Larger Toronto space, we’ve the most important quantity of harp college students in Canada, and probably of North America, with a world inhabitants of over 90 college students from all backgrounds and all walks of life. At the moment, we’ve two college students pursuing skilled harp research on the famed Juilliard College in New York, and three others finding out at famend Eastman College of Music and Yale College doing their Masters and Doctorate in harp efficiency. Certainly one of them has been chosen to compete within the prestigious USA Worldwide Harp Competitors in Indiana this Might representing Canada.
There are harp festivals in varied components of the world — why provoke such a competition in Toronto?
Given all of those in thoughts, it makes good sense to us to develop a world harp competition in Toronto, to proceed to develop Toronto as a world hub for essentially the most magical music recognized to mankind.
Most individuals in North America affiliate harps with the big live performance instrument we typically see on stage in a live performance, however the instrument has a protracted historical past. Are you able to inform us somewhat bit about the way it got here to be a part of European historical past?
The harp, famend for its celestial sound, is a quintessential image of excessive artwork, class, and refinement. All through historical past, the harp has been a favoured instrument amongst royalty and aristocracy. For instance, King Charles III and the late Queen Elizabeth II commissioned a royal harp and appointed a royal harpist, highlighting the harp’s cultural significance and connection to essentially the most elite of society. Equally, Marie Antoinette, the well-known Queen of France, was recognized to have been an completed harpist, additional cementing the harp’s affiliation with regal style and luxurious.
There’s a rising curiosity within the harp within the classical music world. What’s going to the competition supply to individuals?
The Toronto Worldwide Harp Pageant, a premier gathering for skilled harpists and fans, will probably be a celebration of those traditions. The occasion will function concert events, masterclasses, and an exhibition of harps, all designed to focus on the technical mastery and creative fantastic thing about this timeless instrument. In bringing collectively top-tier expertise from around the globe, the competition will elevate the standing of the harp as an instrument that bridges historical past with up to date magnificence, with music from Versailles to Hollywood, and extra.
iHarp At A Look
A few of the iHarp 2025 Program highlights embody:
- 50 Harps, One Sound — A World Celebration of Music that includes a significant harp ensemble
- Harp Concerto Night time with Nationwide Broadcasting Orchestra (Canada)
- Alexander Boldachev’s up to date Electrical Harp paired with guitarist Alexandr Misko
- Rediscovering Nicolas-Charles Bochsa: A Presentation by Parisian historian Michel Faul
- Masterclasses by Catherine Michel and Kathleen Bride
- Panel discussions for harp professionals
- Exhibition of “Audible Sculpture” and “Totem Pole Harp” by Korean Canadian sculptor Hoi Choi, and an exhibition showcase of Lyon & Healy and Salvi Harps
- A Nationwide Harp Competitors of Canadian harp college students competing in Toronto throughout the competition
The Summer time Harp Institute offers an intensive coaching expertise (functions accepted till June 16).
Together with the organizers the checklist of featured performers and presenters contains:
- Joel von Lerber (Concerto Soloist, Berlin, Germany)
- Alexander Boldachev (Up to date Electrical Harp, Zurich, Switzerland)
- Suzanne Shulman (famend Flute Soloist, Toronto, Canada)
- Pleasure Yeh (Professor of Harp, Vancouver Academy of Music, Canada)
- Deborah Nyack (Resident Harpist, Fairmont Banff Springs Lodge, Alberta, Canada)
- Elizabeth Volpé-Bligh (Retired Principal Harp, Vancouver Symphony, Canada)
- Paul Knoke (Historic Vintage Harp Collector, Rochester, New York)
- Michel Faul (Historian, Paris, France)
- Manuel Gamalinda (Harp Care, Canada’s main harp technician)
Discover extra particulars concerning the iHarp competition [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.