Agenda
Agenda
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Thursday, January 7 2021, 19:30 CET
Online harp recital: www.youtube.com/c/CamacHarpsOfficial
Sylvain Blassel is a harpist and conductor. Very early in his career, his position as Pierre Boulez’s assistant with the Ensemble InterContemporain led to many formative experiences: working for example with György Kurtag, György Ligeti, Brian Ferneyhough, and Helmut Lachenmann.
Keen to expand the repertoire available to him as a harpist, Sylvain Blassel has come to specialise in the virtuoso adaptation of music hitherto undreamt-of on the harp. He performs not simply transcriptions of digestible solos, but giants of the piano and orchestra repertoire.
Our 2021 concert agenda is off to a fascinating start! Sylvain Blassel – true to form – performs Haydn’s Sonata n° 60 Hob.XVI.50, and Beethoven’s Six Bagatelles, op.126.
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Constance Luzzati specialises in expanding the harp repertoire in two very different ways: through contemporary premiers, and the transcription of early music. She obtained her doctorate in performance from the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) and the Sorbonne, focusing on 18th century French harpsichord repertoire. It is this very repertoire that we will enjoy during her performance of January 14th!
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Alexandra Bidi was born in 2002 in New York City. She began her harp studies at the Scuola Musicale di Milano (Italy), before continuing with Beatriz Millán, Zoraida Ávila and Ghislaine Petit-Volta. In 2020, she joined Isabelle Moretti’s class at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP).
Alexandra is the winner of the the Martine Géliot International Harp Competition (2019), the Concurso Ibérico Isolda, Collegium 21, and the Léopold Bellan competition.
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Hélène Breschand is part of a generation of musicians who explore new worlds by dismantling boundaries between disciplines. Her music makes us forget all about the particularities of the harp, and instead, we are immersed in a complete experience.
Hélène Breschand has worked with composers such as Luciano Berio, Bernard Cavanna, Pascal Dusapin and Eliane Radigue, and performs with numerous improvisers such as Médéric Collignon, Joelle Léandre, Jean-François Pauvros and Elliott Sharp. She also works on projects with dance, cinema, theatre and the visual arts: with Christian Marclay, The Do, David Toop, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
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Under the artistic direction of Ghislaine Petit-Volta and Laurence Bancaud, the Collegium21 competition encourages even the youngest harpists to explore contemporary music. There are four levels from beginners to advanced conservatoire students, combine very new works / world premiers, with free-choice pieces. One special feature of the competition is its series of masterclasses prior to the contest, where students can work directly with the composers of the set works. Moreover, all the masterclasses are filmed and later published online.
This year, Collegium21 has made a big effort to increase the accessibility of the competitions to international students: their website now also has an English version, with all the information you need to take part. Curious harpists should also explore the website of Collegium21’s sister association, Les Signes de L’Arc. They have also translated their excellent reference book – La Harpe aux XXe et XXIe siècles – into English, as Guide to the Contemporary Harp.
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Thanks to the vision of the indefatigable organising committee, 2021’s Glowing Harp International Competition will be a fully digital event: across four age categories and with the same programme as would have gone live.
Prizes include a live concerto performance at a flexible future date, and an Odyssey harp.
Further information:
- Competition website with all entry details
- Camac blog about the concept
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You can now enter the International Prestige Awards, organised by Rave Harps, our partners in Singapore and Malaysia. The Prestige Awards are chamber music competitions, both for harp ensembles, and harp and other instruments. There’s a wealth of categories, from children aged under 6, to classes both for young professionals and adult amateurs.
If you’re resident in Singapore and Malaysia, the competition will be held live. If you are based elsewhere in the world, your entry will be live, online. While the jury watch in real time, candidates will perform via video call.
The closing date for entries is February 28th 2021, with an early bird discount for all entries received before the end of January. The live rounds, both in Singapore and on video call, will take place on July 18th.
Read more on the Camac blog!
