The Nippon Harp Competition has announced winners of its 27th competition, following three stages that took place Nov. 11–14, 2015. First Prize (¥300,000) went to Ritsuko Arima; Juri Saito took Second Prize (¥200,000); and Sonia Bize received Third Prize (¥100,000). The competition is part of the Soka International Harp Festival, which featured a performance by the first place winner on Nov. 15.
The competition is open annually to harpists of any nationality under age 35. Repertoire included:
First Stage
Sonate D minor K.9, L.413 and Sonate A major K.113, L.345, by Domenico Scarlatti:
“Sérénade,” by Elias Parish Alvars
Second Stage
A solo recital program of 35 minutes including:
- “Une Châtelaine en sa Tour,” by Gabriel Fauré
- Choice between Thème et variations, by Jean-Michel Damase or Variations on a Theme of Paganini, by Mikhail Mchedelov
- Variations sur un thème dans le style ancien, by Carlos Salzedo
- Free choice piece(s) up to 35 mins.
Final Stage
Harp Concerto, by Alberto Ginastera, with piano accompaniment.
The jury for the 2015 competition included:
Chantal Mathieu (France)
Elinor Bennet (United Kingdom)
Erika Inoue (Japan)
Mieko Inoue (Japan)
Kaoru Kondo (Japan)
Ayako Shinozaki (Japan)
Shuhei Isobe (clarinetist, Japan)
Norio Sato (guitarist, Japan)
For more information visit www.harp-japan.com.
