From The Editors
Inside this issue...
Alfredo Rolando Ortiz heats up the July/August issue of Harp Column with his Latin flare! See how this popular Paraguayan harpist took an unconventional life path, leaving a career in medicine to pursue music. Also in this issue, read about some young harp phenoms and find out what you need to know about liability insurance.
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Coming up in the next issue of Harp Column: a harp healthcare check-up and a guide to using method books!
Editor's YouTube Pick of the Month
We couldn't resist this YouTube clip capturing a feline's foray on the harp.
Each month we will post our favorite YouTube harp clip here to share with the Harp Column community. If you see a video on YouTube that you think we should pick, e-mail it to us!
- AHS Competition Winners Announced
Posted 07/03/09The American Harp Society announced the winners of its 18th National Competition held this week in Salt Lake City.
Young Professional Division1st prize $2500 : Heidi Gorton (PA) becomes the next Concert Artist2nd prize: None3rd prize $1000: Tied: Emily Levin (CO) and Noel Wan (CA)4th prize. Tied $750: Marguerite Lynn Williams (IL) and Hillary Schefter (NY)5th prize: None6th prize $250 : Katie Buckley (Iceland)Advanced Division1st Prize $1500: Naomi Hoffmeyer (CA)2nd prize $1000: Elizabeth Ann White (UT)3rd prize: $750: Emily Belvedere, (Ontario Canada)4th prize $500: Maria Rindenello-Parker (MA)5th prize $250: Andrea Mumm (NJ)6th $250: Emilie Lom (Ontario, Canada)Salzedo Prize $500: Elizabeth Ann White (Utah)Intermediate II Division1st prize $1000: Hannah Lee Blalock (North Carolina)2nd prize: $750: Samuel Karlinski (New Hampshire)3rd prize $500: Vivian Hsu (CA)4th prize $200: Tied: Emily Clarkson (Texas) and MacKenzie Hammel (Ohio)Salzedo price $250: Emily ClarksonIntermediate I Division1st prize $1000: Kinsey McNevin (CO)2nd prize $750: Helen Gerhold (PA)3rd prize $500: Kira Krupa (CO)4th prize $200: Carrie Brown (CO)5th prize $100: Amy Buescher (TX)6th prize $100: Sarah Mei Yeoh-Wang (NY)7th prize :$100 Tied: Tess Michel (MT) and Amy Thompson (TN)Stockton prize: Kinsey McNevin (CO)Junior Division1st prize $750 Jessica Ding (PA)2nd prize $500 V. Ina McCormack (Texas)3rd prize $250: Hannah Elizabeth Piston (PA)4th prize $100: Tied: Caroline Richards (Utah) and Abigail Bachelor (OH)6th prize $100: Chelsea Balmer (IN)7th prize $100: Hannah Thompson (TN) - Harp world remembers crash victim
Posted 07/01/09Ceren Necipoglu
The crash of Air France Flight 447 on June 1 over the Atlantic Ocean has claimed the life of Turkish harpist Fatma Ceren Necipoglu. Necipoglu, 37, was leaving Brazil after performing two recitals at the Fourth Rio Harp Festival when her Air France plane traveling between Rio de Janeiro and Paris disappeared. Debris from the plane was found 600 miles off the northeast coast of Brazil. All 228 people on the flight are presumed dead.
Necipoglu taught piano and harp at Anadolu University in Eskiehir, Turkey. She was a member of the World Harp Congress. By all accounts she was a talented harpist and came to the United States to pursue post-graduate harp studies at Louisiana State University and Indiana University.
News of Necipoglu’s tragic death has saddened the entire harp community, but for those who knew her personally, the news was especially poignant.
“I still can’t believe something like this happened to Ceren,” said Elisa Torres, Principal Harpist of the National Orchestra of Puerto Rico. She met Necipoglu while they were both studying harp at Indiana University. “She was such a sweet girl, always sharing her big smile with all of us.”
Harp technician Peter Wiley travels the world regulating harps. Necipoglu was one of the many harpists he got to know through his travels.
“My wife Rocio and I visited Ceren at Anadolu University for three days this past March so her passing is quite painful,” he said. “Having met her some years ago when she was at Indiana University it was nice to see her again. Her mother was visiting from Istanbul the week we were there. The bond of love and caring between them was so sweet to see; our hearts are especially sad over her mother’s loss. Ceren truly impressed us with her dedication to her students, her playing, and sharing the harp with the Turkish people. I spoke with her the day before she left for the Rio Festival, she was so excited to be going—not just to be playing but to be with other harpists to learn, share, and make memories. Rocio said, ‘Ceren wanted more for others than she wanted for herself,’ and that is how we will both remember her.”
Susann McDonald taught Necipoglu during her time at Indiana University. “Ceren did her Masters in Music and Performer Diploma degrees at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in my class. She was a very dedicated and fine harpist and it was a joy to work with her always,” she said. “She collaborated with Garret Byrnes in the prize-winning composition of the USA International Harp Competition ‘Visions in Twilight,’ which she premiered there, and also performed at the Rio de Janeiro Harp Festival in two recitals. She rose to prominence in Turkey for her outstanding contributions to classical music both as a performer and teacher. She was a member of the World Harp Congress and brought several of her students to the WHC in Amsterdam last July, where I was so happy to see her. I know her death is mourned by her many classmates from IU and the entire world harp community. She was 37 years old. I know she was doing what she loved most, performing on her beloved harp.” - YAHS announces 2010 competition
Posted 07/01/09The second Young Artist’s Harp Competition will take place July 8–10, 2010, in Rabun Gap, Georgia. The competition is sponsored by the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar (YAHS), which will follow July 10–24, 2010. (Harpists do not have to attend YAHS to compete.) The competition is open to harpists of any nationality ages 11–19 in two divisions, with prizes totaling nearly $4,000.
Finalists will be selected to compete in person from a preliminary video audition round. Twenty-four finalists from North America, Europe, and Asia attended the first Young Artist’s Harp Competition, held in July 2008. Watch www.harpcompetition.com for complete details and repertoire for the 2010 competition.
