GUILDHALL HARP DEPARTMENT NEWS: SPRING 2016
The Guildhall Harp Department is on a high at the moment because
Postgraduate student Oliver Wass has become the first harpist ever to win a
place in the final of the Gold Medal Competition. Oliver will play the Ginastera
Concerto in the Barbican Hall in May. He also won First Prize in the British Harp
Chamber Music Competition, with his trio the Pelléas Ensemble, and was a
finalist in the Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize. Elisabeth Eder (PG) has won 3rd
prize in the 6th International Harp Competition in Sandstedt, Germany.
International themes dominate our outlook at the moment: Sivan Magen
(Israel/USA) gave our first Masterclass of the year in October and Sylvain Blassel
(France) will give one in February. We are arranging visits from the ever-globetrotting Andrew Lawrence-King, as well as a visit from the harp class of the Franz
Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, with their Professor Dr Andrea Vigh. Our
cohort this year includes students from Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands
and the UK, and they will enjoy some exciting events, including the chance to
play Symphonie Fantastique at the Barbican with members of the London
Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. The harpists will present a
lunchtime concert in February at LSO St Luke’s, entitled Texture and Light.
Other opportunities this year include Britten’s Opera The Rape of Lucretia, a visit
to Budapest with the Royal Opera House Opera Makers collaboration, a Naxos
recording of brass band music with harp, Berio’s Folksongs and orchestral works
by Ravel, Respighi, Shostakovich, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Holst, Elgar, Prokofiev,
Mahler, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Webern.
In the summer, Alex Rider successfully premiered Robert Saxton’s wonderful new
harp solo: Toccata, Passacaglia and Dance, and we look forward to our next solo
commission from Julian Phillips for Summer 2016. Please contact the number
below if you would like to look at the Saxton, and the previous commission from
Simon Holt. The New Music Ensemble and the Ubu Ensemble continue to give
our harpists lost of new works to absorb!
We look forward to seeing you soon at one of the events below.
All events at
GSMD, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT unless otherwise stated
Open Events 2015-16
(Contact harp@gsmd.ac.uk or 07854 871440 for details and to check times)
16 October
10.00am-4.00pm in 150
Masterclass with Sivan Magen
Generously sponsored by Holywell Music Ltd
26 January
1.05 in the Lecture Recital Room,
Guildhall Harpists Chamber Music Concert
Bax Elegiac Trio, Wilm Duo for Violin & Harp, Debussy Trio,
Piazzola l’Histoire du Tango, Ravel Introduction & Allegro.
1 February
All day: Schleswig Holstein Orchestra Auditions in 150
12 February
12.30pm LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street, London EC1V 9NG
Free Friday Lunchtime Concert
Debussy Danses, De Falla Spanish Dance No.1, Fauré Une
Châtelaine en sa Tour, Renié Danse des Lutins,
Ravel Introduction and Allegro.
15 February
10.00am-1.00pm in Milton Court Concert Hall,
Masterclass with Sylvain Blassel
Generously sponsored by Holywell Music Ltd.
19 February
9.30am-4.00pm Harp Department Open Day in 150:
taster lessons, workshops, recital, classes, School tours
Please register on the website www.gsmd.ac.uk
9 March
9.30am – 4.00pm in 150
Visiting Professor Masterclass: Alison Martin, English
National Opera Principal Harp
10 March
1.05pm at St Olave’s Church, Hart Street, London EC3R 7NB
Lunchtime Recital: Harpists from the Guildhall School
13 March
6.00pm in the Lecture Recital Room
Berio Folksongs with Elisabeth Eder (harp)
20 April
1.05 in Room 150
Lunchtime Recital by Zuzanna Olbrys (harp)
6 May
7.00pm Barbican Hall
The Gold Medal Competition Final featuring the
Ginastera Harp Concerto with Oliver Wass (harp)
11 May
6.00pm at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235
Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8EP
Evening Harp Recital
18 May
7.00pm in the Music Hall
Guildhall Harpists’ Recital
25 May
1.05pm at St Olave’s Church, Hart Street, London EC3R 7NB
Lunchtime Recital: Harpists from the Guildhall School
13 June
in Milton Court Concert Hall
Postgraduate Public Final Recitals:
11.00am Elisabeth Eder
12.45pm Oliver Wass