Harpblog

Real Men Play The Harp

 

 

The second Dutch Harp Festival will soon take place in Utrecht, between March 27th and April 1st. As with the festival's first edition in 2010, it offers a dynamic concert programme, a high-level international competition, excellent communications and some really nice, innovative touches.  One such touch is March 27th's evening concert: Real Men Play The Harp. Emmanuel Ceysson, Remy van Kesteren and Andreas Mildner will perform harp concertos by Renié, Schaffer and van Oosten with the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, conducted by Johannes Leertouwer. The concert's title says it all: musically and visually, the idea is to blow apart some of the strongest stereotypes that hang like a millstone around the harp's gilded neck.

The festival has devised a very clever, creative way of appealing for sponsors of this concert. It has constructed a scale of sponsorship, and offers something in return for your help - from tickets to concerts and masterclasses during the festival, to a private lesson with Petra van der Heide or an exclusive recital by festival artistic director Remy himself. Find out more on the Real Men Play The Harp project page.

Incentive sponsorship's a fine idea - why not offer people kind enough to sponsor you something in return? - and this is a great example of it. The rewards are attractive; the financial scale is realistic, starting at €10 (prizes from €25). Like funding platforms like Kickstarter, the sponsorship project has a time-limit: there are thirty-seven days left to reach the target of €12,500. If 200 people donate €50, they'll reach their goal. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.

 

(P.S: yes, we have sponsored it!)

Camac Fortieth Anniversary Celebrations, Ancenis

 

Over the long weekend of May 25th - 27th, 2012, we will be celebrating Camac's fortieth anniversary with a special festival in Ancenis.

Forty years on from when our company was founded by Joël Garnier (1940-2000), you can find Camac harps held dear in every country where the harp is played - while our factory and head offices remain where they always have been, close by Ancenis in the tiny hamlet of Mouzeil.

One of the best things about our international presence is that we come into contact with a great many, diverse and wonderful harpists. To celebrate our anniversary, we want to share the chance to hear some of our favourite artists with the public closest to home.

 

 

Here is the programme, which we hope will show off the enormous variety of styles of which the harp is capable, performed by some of the finest players of which our instrument can boast. There will be classical, jazz and rock concerts; harp orchestras from Brittany, Alsace, Singapore and the United States; workshops and lectures. There will be a substantial Camac exhibition, and Jakez will also be showing his private collection of historical and traditional harps. There will also be a substantial programme of informal concerts on the streets of Ancenis throughout the weekend - in the station, in shopping centres, campsites, and so on... 

...you can download the full programme below, and also refer to the festival website.

Download Ancenis Festival Programme

Thank-you to the town of Ancenis for welcoming us, to the team of the Théâtre Quartier Libre and all the supporters who are helping us in this adventure - may the sound of harps ring all over the town!

 

Spring Harp Days, May 25th - 27th 2012, Szeged

Harp events at the Greenwich Early Music Festival - starts today!

Photo:  Elizabeth Beidler

For those of you in London, there are some great early harp events taking place as part of the Greenwich Early Music Festival:

 

          Friday, November 11th

12.00noon - 12.45pm King William Undercroft

Makers Demonstration Recital Michael Parfett Conservation - Harps and Square Piano Mike Parker, single and double action harps - Peter Foster, square piano.  A selection of late Georgian duets for harp and pianoforte, including works by Sophia Dussek and her husband P J Meyer, Maria Cosway and J E Weippert Admission free to exhibition ticket holders. Limited places

1.00pm - 1.45pm King William Undercroft

Makers Demonstration Recital Michele Sangineto - Harps. The Ensemble Sangineto : Adriano and Caterina Sangineto. Caterina (voice, bowed psaltery) and Adriano (voice, harp) present the melodies of the Italian repertoire relating to different historical periods of music: from the music of the Italian Renaissance to the popular European repertoire, ending with own compositions inspired to the fusion of the whole musical genres they deal with. Admission free to exhibition ticket holders. Limited places

Sunday, November 13th

12 noon - 12.45pm King William Undercroft

Makers Demonstration Recital Ardival Harps Bill Taylor will perform medieval and renaissance music from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales on historical harps made by Ardival harps, including a gut strung medieval harp, a wire-strung clarsach and a large renaissance bray harp. Admission free to exhibition ticket holders. Limited places

 

Weekend de la Harpe, Conservatoire d'Antony

Masterclass opportunity with Isabelle Moretti, Maubeuge, France

Photo: Eric Larrayadieu

Below you can download the application form for a three-day masterclass with Isabelle Moretti, which will take place as part of the 18th Harpe en Avesnois International Festival. The dates for the classes are February 10th - 12th, 2012, in Feignies, near Maubeuge, France. They cost €150 including accomodation, meals, and entry to all festival concerts, which sounds like a very good deal.

2012 is the fiftieth anniversary of Jacques Ibert's death, and so the festival has an Ibert theme in his honour. It is recommended, when you apply to the masterclass, to offer a work by Ibert as part of your programme.

Closing date for applications is January 15th, 2012.

Download Maubeuge masterclass Isabelle Moretti

 

Rhodri Davies @ Just Not Cricket!, Berlin

Harfengalerie Camac Berlin are sponsoring a harp for Rhodri Davies at the upcoming festival Just Not Cricket! Three Days Of British Improvised Music In Berlin (October 6th - 8th, 2011). 

Just Not Cricket! has been initiated by Antoine Prum, the director of "Sunny's Time Now" about the drummer and free jazz key figure Sunny Murray. The idea of the festival is to give a sense of the British avant-garde / impro scene, and Prum will also film a documentary during the festival. Incidentally, the festival is also being sponsored by the new music magazine The Wire, who are collaborating on an extensive programme book. 

Rhodri is performing various sets in various ensembles, together with  Lol Coxhill, Alex Ward, Steve Beresford, John Edwards, Phil Minton, Dominic Lash, Orphy Robinson, Trevor Watts, Gail Brand, Mark Sanders, Tony Bevan, Matthew Bourne and Eddie Prévost. More information is available from the festival website.

 

 

 

Camac Festival 2011: Angers, 7th - 9th October

Every year, Camac Harps put on a festival, each time a long weekend in a different part of regional France. The idea is to recognise, with a major event, that not everything need take place in Paris, and to celebrate the richness and diversity of talent that is found throughout the harp world. We always hold a huge harp exhibition too, and bring a full team of Camac technicians, so it is the perfect opportunity to go harp shopping, or bring your existing instrument to be regulated.

This year, the Camac Festival is coming to Angers. On Friday, October 7th, the exhibition will open at 9AM and stay open until 8PM, before the festival's programme of wonderful artists gets off to a flying start with major competition winners Miriam Overlach, Pauline Haas and Maria Krushevskaja, who will give the opening "Great Performers" concert. On Saturday, October 8th, the Camac exhibition will also run between 9AM and 8PM. Brenda Dor-Groot and Sabine Meijers, directors of the International Jazz Harp Foundation, will give a morning's workshop introduction to jazz, before a classical masterclass in the afternoon by Patrizia Tassini. The evening "Harpélidoskope" concert will feature classical harp music from Valérie Milot, Welsh Celtic harp specialist Gwenan Gibbard, and finally the Milevska Jazz Trio. Sunday, October 9th also offers the chance to explore the Camac exhibition, this time from 9AM to 5PM, before more jazz from Brenda and Sabine, and a closing concert that will see a new collaboration between the Angers-Cholet harp ensemble and harp clowns Plume et Paille.

All concerts, workshops and masterclasses are free, but it is a good idea to reserve a place (and you must reserve a place if you wish actively to participate in a workshop or masterclass). To do so, please call +33 2 40 97 24 97 or email festival@camac-harps.com.

28th International Harp Meeting, Dinan, July 2011

Here is the programme for the next - the twenty-eighth! - in the series of famous international lever harp meetings held annually in Dinan, Brittany. This year's meeting will take place between July 6th and 10th (with a Camac exhibition on-site between the 8th and 10th), with a typically star-studded line-up from the length and breadth of the Celtic harp world - Myrdhin, Dominig Bouchaud with Yann Honoré, Mariannig Larc’hantec, Cristine Mérienne, Mandragore, Jakez François International Lever Harp Competition prizewinners Ameylia Saad Wu and François Pernel, the Celtic flute and harp Criddh-Heart Duo, Bonnie Shaljean, Vincenzo Zitello, Paraguyan harpist Gerardo Zarate, and more...

You can download the full programme (together with location and ticket details) here:

Download Dinan programme 2011

Marie-Pierre Langlamet at the Crescendo Festival, Berlin, June 8th 2011

Berlin Philharmonic principal harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet is at the centre of a star-studded harp concert: 7PM on June 8th, in the Joseph-Joachim Konzertsaal of the Universitaet der Kuenste, Berlin. The concert is to mark the start of Marie-Pierre's position as professor there, and will also feature none other than Fabrice Pierre, Park Stickney, Sylvain Blassel and Julie Palloc.

Here is the programme - the first half is Marie-Pierre solo.

W.A. Mozart: Sonata K 332

Schubert: Impromptu Op 90 Nr. 2 

Debussy: Rêverie et Valse romantique  

Marcel Tournier: Etude de Concert: "Au Matin" 

INTERVAL

Jean-Michel Damase: Sonatine for two harps (Julie Palloc, Marie-Pierre Langlamet) 

Ligeti: 6 Bagatelles (arranged for three harps by Sylvain Blassel)

Bernstein: West Side Story (arranged for four harps by Park Stickney) 

Cesar Franck: Prelude Fugue et Variation (arranged for four harps by Fabrice Pierre)

The concert is part of the UDK's Crescendo Festival: you can download the whole programme below. 

Download Crescendo Festival programme