The Dutch Harp Festival has announced details of their fourth international competition, which will take place Oct. 12–16, 2016, in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The competition—open to harpists of all nationalities and ages—includes a preliminary audio recording round, followed by three live rounds held in conjunction with the Dutch Harp Festival, to be held Oct. 15–16. Prizes up to £5,000 plus the competition’s CCC Career Development program will be awarded.
Required repertoire for the preliminary recording round includes:
- Arabesque No. 2, by Debussy
- The slow movement of a Sonata of your choice
- The encore of your choice for the finals (4min.)
Breaking with tradition, the competition calls upon contestants for creative live-round programming, stipulating a free choice, themed “original, innovative programme” with accompanying program notes. “Each contestant must design and verbally present their own programme which best characterizes their playing and depicts their vision,” states the competition’s repertoire requirements.
For the final round, contestants are required to write an original, free cadenza to accompany their performance of the Handel Concerto in B-flat. A new composition, to be announced in February, and a free choice work are also part of the final round.
The deadline to enter is June 1, 2016. Visit harpfestival.nl for details.
