GUILDHALL HARP DEPARTMENT NEWS:SUMMER2016

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 has also won 3 recitals at St John’s Smith Square through their Young Artist 2016/17 competition, and a Tillett Trust recital at the Wigmore Hall as a soloist and with his trio. The trio, the Pelleas Ensemble, won First Prize in the British Harp Chamber Music Competition, and were finalists in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. Elisabeth Eder (PG) has won 3rd prize in the 6th International Harp Competition in Sandstedt, Germany.

International themes dominate our outlook at the moment: we had two fantastic masterclasses, from Sivan Magen (Israel/USA) in October and Sylvain Blassel (France) in February. We have visits from the ever-globe-trotting 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. Not forgetting home-grown talent, our visiting professor this year is Alison Martin, Principal Harp of English National Opera, and our summer workshop will be given by Sioned Williams, Principal Harp of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, working on Berio’s Sequenza.

Our cohort this year includes students from Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the UK, and they will enjoy some exciting events, includingthe chance to play Symphonie Fantastique at the Barbican with members of the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle in June. The harpists presented a lunchtime concert in February at LSO St Luke’s, entitled Texture and Light. Other opportunities this year include three operas and a musical, and A Ceremony of Carols; 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 April and May the students will present solo recitals in City Churches, as they prepare for exams.

Last 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 Winter Music from Julian Phillips in 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 8DTunless otherwise stated

Open EventsSummer Term 2016

(Contact or 07854 871440 for details and to check times)

28 April7.00pm at Holywell Music Showrooms, 58 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH

Guildhall Harpists’ Showcase Concert

Works by CPE Bach, Prokofiev, Khatchaturian, Glinka, Debussy, Ben Haim, Salzedo, Renié, Hindemith, Scarlatti and Posse.

6 May7.00pm Barbican Hall (ticketed event)

The Gold Medal Competition Final featuring the Ginastera Harp Concerto with Oliver Wass (harp)

11 May6.00pm at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8EP

Evening Harp Recital: Oliver Wass & Elisabeth Eder

Salzedo Variations, Renié Légende, Ravel Jeux d’Eau, JS Bach Suite 996, Posse Carnaval de Venise.

18 May7.00pm in the Music Hall

Guildhall Harpists& Friends Recital

Ibert Interludes, JS Bach Lute Suite 996 & French Suite No.3, Andriessen Intermezzo, Hindemith Sonata, Godefroid Carnaval de Venise, Saint-Saëns Fantaisie for violin & harp, Handel Concerto in Bb, Salzedo Variations.

25 May1.05pm at St Olave’s Church, Hart Street, London EC3R 7NB Lunchtime Recital: Harpists from the Guildhall School

Khatchaturian Danse Orientale & Toccata, CPE Bach Sonata, Fauré Une Châtelaine en sa Tour, JS Bach Lute Suite 997, Hindemith Sonata, Scarlatti Sonatas K209/K380, Bax Fantasy Sonata for viola & harp.

1 June7.00pm St Benet’s Welsh Church, Paul’s Wharf, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4ER

Guildhall Harpists and Friends Recital

JS Bach French Suite, Godefroid Carnaval de Venise, Hindemith Sonata, Khatchaturian Danse Orientale et Toccata, Casella Sonata, Debussy Première Arabesque, Mathias Zodiac Trio.

13 Junein Milton Court Concert Hall

Postgraduate Public Final Recitals:

11.00am Elisabeth Eder

12.45pm Oliver Wass