new blue harp repertoire from London

Blue harp news from London!

For her performance Masters at the Royal Academy of Music, Elizabeth Scorah has to design a lecture-recital based on an original concept.  She’s therefore taken the French tradition of innovative instrument design, and linked this with four new pieces for the blue harp from the cream of Britain’s up-and-coming composers.

It all started because Elizabeth wanted more than anything to perform Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro at her exam. This piece needs a creative twist to become an "original concept ", and so Elizabeth began to consider why this masterpiece had been composed in the first place. 

Both the Debussy Danses and the Ravel septet were written to show off two new kinds of harp, made in France – respectively, the cross-strung chromatic harp, and Erard’s double-action masterpiece.  Camac continue the French spirit of technical innovation in all their harps.  For example, Camac levers are widely acknowledged to be the best in the world; pedal rods have been replaced with unbreakable cables; the concert harps are ten kilos lighter; the mechanism is more accurately regulated;  a more hard-wearing but equally quiet soft plastic is wrapped around the pedals instead of fragile felt;  you can perform a basic regulation yourself in five minutes;  the strings have been re-angled back to the ergonomic alignments of the Erard harps, more comfortable to the hand; and the sound box has been painstakingly redesigned for more beautiful and even sound (read "inside the Camac factory" to find out more).

In March 2009, Camac brought more innovative French harps to London:  the concert grand electric "blue harp", and the revolutionary new MIDI harp.  By this point, Elizabeth had decided that her Masters concert would consist of the Debussy and Ravel performed on a Camac New Generation Atlantide Prestige, plus new works for the blue harp she would commission herself. 

On September 9th, 2009, at 730 PM in the David Josefowitch Hall of London’s Royal Academy of Music, Elizabeth will give the world premieres of blue harp pieces by John Chambers, Alfie Granger-Howell,  David Snell, Park Stickney, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Gareth Wood.  The performance will be recorded and filmed, if you can’t make it to the concert in person but would like more information about the works. 

JOHN CHAMBERS was born in Bedfordshire, England, in 1985. In 2004 John began his formal studies at Trinity College of Music, studying Composition with John Ashton Thomas, Errollyn Wallen, Stephen Montague, and Alwynne Pritchard. In his first year he won the John Halford Composition prize for his solo piano piece ‘Itchy Feet’. He later went on to win the Daryl Runswick prize with ‘You Know You’re Gonna Die’ for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble. Other prizes include the Chappell Composition Prize, St Marylebone Award for Musicianship, Gladys Puttick Extemporization Prize, and the Alan J Kirby Conducting Prize.

John has written several fanfares for important occasions, including a ‘Fanfare for Her Majesty the Queen’ (re-opening of the Royal Observatory Greenwich), and ‘Fanfare for the Olympic Torch Relay’ (performed in Trafalgar Square in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics).

John's new work for the blue harp is called "'It Spirals Upwards From The Sea".

ALFIE GRANGER-HOWELL graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2007 where he studied Media and Applied Music under Dick Walter, James Brett, Ruth Byrchmore and Tim Bowers. This course gave him the tools necessary to explore his widespread influences; composing music of different idioms and styles, for varied audiences and situations. His recent work in TV and film, advertising, electronic dance, theatre and concert music continues to develop his personal musical language and voice.

A long-standing interest in electronic music has led to a project, ‘Solarity’ with releases on many high-profile record labels. Their music has gained dance-floor and radio play from some of the world’s most popular DJs, and has led to performances in Madrid and Rekjavik as well as around the UK. Other recent activity includes arranging and producing an ident for ITV/Toyota and receiving a Tim Williams award for the theatre piece "We Wear The Mask".

DAVID SNELL, described as "England's equivalent to Dorothy Ashby", is a major figure in British music:  composer, conductor and harpist, in both the classical and pop music scenes.  His albums vary from the funk grooves of Harp Transplant and Crab Apple Jam, to chamber music in more classical vein.

PARK STICKNEY also needs little introduction, as he is one of the greatest jazz harp players around.  You can read his biog here, and continue exploring his site to find out about his schedule, recordings, teaching, and download his compositions (like "Dirty Laundry Rag") to play. 

AYANNA WITTER-JOHNSON is a composer, 'cellist, vocalist and pianist who graduated with First Class Honours from Trinity College of Music in 2008. She has worked with a range of artists including: Jason Tarde and his B-Trade ensemble, London Symphony Orchestra, Nitin Sawney, 4Hero, Dan Zanes, Soul II Soul, Robert Mitchell and Gwyneth Herbert. In 2007 Ayanna became one of the first Emerging Artists in Residence at the Southbank Centre culminating in Takeover a full-length show in February 2009. In October 2008, she was one of six composers selected for the LSO Discovery's Panufnik Young Composers Scheme, for which she was commissioned to write a 3 minute work for symphony orchestra.  She has recently been offered a full scholarship to study a Masters in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently composing a new opera with librettist Adam Strickson for Leeds University in association with Opera North.

Ayanna's blue harp piece is inspired by a journey to Beijing, and in particular the time she spent in the Forbidden City: the myths that surround it, the physicality of the architecture and how she felt in the space. 

Gareth Wood was born in Wales in 1950. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1972 to 2005. He has written extensively for the harp. Works include a concerto for harp and brass band, 'Waterless Seas' and 'Artemis' for six harps and 'Rivers of Light" for tenor and four harps. He is the composer in residence with the Cory Band, and many of the works written for them have been recorded.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London (Bmus) and a scholar at The Purcell School of Music for seven years, Elizabeth Scorah's harp journey takes her from playing with orchestras, solo and concerto appearances to teaching and outreach workshops.  Her workshop leadership has has covered a wide variety of genres and ages and has even taken her and her clarsach to Bosnia in 2007.

Elizabeth will complete her Masters at RAM this September.  In 2010 she will travel to America to shadow the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and on graduating she hopes to pursue her love of orchestral playing and ensemble work.