The 35th Soka-Nippon International Harp Competition has announced the winners of this year’s competition, held Nov. 10–17 in Soka City, Japan. Evelien Vaneysendeyk of Belgium, who studies with Sivan Magen in Berlin, is the first prize winner of the Professional division. She will receive 200,000 yen and a trophy (the Mayor of Soka City Award). Two harpists from Japan took home second and third prize. Mizuki Namba won second prize and an award of 150,000 yen; Nagisa Tanaka was awarded third prize and 100,000 yen.
The jury for this year’s competition included chairperson Norio Sato (guitar), as well as jury members Tomoko Iwashita (flute) and harpists Katryna Tan, Mari Kimura, Etsuko Chida, Masumi Nagasawa, and Eri Matsumura.
Professional division (35 and under)
First prize: Evelien Vaneysendeyk (Belgium)
Second prize: Mizuki Namba (Japan)
Third prize: Nagisa Tanaka (Japan)
Yamahata Matsue Award (Jury’s Special Award): Haruka Koguchi (Japan) and Mariya Kondo (Japan)
Advanced division (20 and under)
First prize: Hanyun Yu (China)
Second prize: Jiayang Li (China)
Third prize: Chen Yingxi (China)
Fourth prize: Kaitlyn Tan Yu Xin (Singapore)
Fifth prize: Yao Jia (China)
Sixth prize: Huang Meifeng (China)
Yamahata Matsue Award (Jury’s Special Award): Moe Nakata (Japan) and Tianqi Ji (China)
Junior division (12 and under)
First prize: Siyu Luo (China)
Second prize: Liu Xi Yu Ge (China)
Second prize: Yingchu Lu (China)
Fourth prize: Jerielle Hsuen Kok (Singapore)
Fifth prize: Charisma Kate Chow (Hong Kong)
Sixth prize: Ameri Watanabe (Japan)
Yamahata Matsue Award (Jury’s Special Award): Charisma Kate Chow (Hong Kong) and Ameri Watanabe (Japan)
For more information, visit the Nippon Harp Association’s website.
