Anais Gaudemard of France is the First Prize winner of the 18th International Harp Contest in Israel; the title comes with a custom made Lyon & Healy gold Style 23 harp, $5,000, a CD recording, and numerous concert appearances (see the complete list of prizes here:www.harpcontest-israel.org.il/prizes. The Second Prize of $8,000 was awarded to Agnes Keblyte of Lithuania; Mai Fukui of Japan received the $5,000 Third Prize. The final stage was held December 6, 2012, at the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University and included finalist performances of @[[danses-sacree-et-profane:Piece:Danses Sacrée et Profane (Debussy, Claude)]], and On Willows and Birches (Williams, John), with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Nir Kabaretti.
Other prizes awarded during the four-stage competition include a special award of $1,000 to each semi-finalist who did not reach the final stage to Noel Wan (USA), Stefanie Saglietti (Italy), andMaiko Enomoto (Japan); a $3,000 semi-final prize in memory of Yona Ettinger for the best performance of The Crown of Ariadne (R. Murray Schaffer) to Anais Gaudermard; the $2,000 Aharon Zvi and Mara Propes Prize for the best performance of the Israeli composition Fantasy for Harp (Zvi Avni) in Stage I to Agne Keblyte; and the $1,500 Mario Falcao Prize for the best performance of a free-choice contemporary work in Stage II to Mai Fukui
The jury of the 18th International Harp Contest included Judith Liber (Chairperson), Karen Lindquist-Speyer (Vice Chairperson), Kumiko Inoue, Suzanna Klintcharova, Sivan Magen (winner of the 16th contest), Isabelle Moretti (winner of the 10th contest), Emilie Moskvitina, and Anna Pasetti.
The International Harp Contest in Israel—considered one of the world’s most elite harp events—is held every three years. It was founded by Aharon Zvi Propes in 1959. The winner of that contest was Susanna Mildonian of Belgium, and the jury included Maria Korchinska, Pierre Jamet, Phia Berghout, Clelia Gatti Aldrovandi, Vera Dulova, Nicanor Zabaleta, Lucile Johnson Rosenbloom, Lucile Lawrence, Eileen Malone, Marcel Grandjany, and Carlos Salzedo. Read more about the competition and past winners atwww.harpcontest-israel.org.il/.
