On March 8, Renee Murphy (USA), Annette Lee (USA), and Mari Kelly (U.K.) were chosen as the three winners in the 2024 Lyon & Healy Awards in Chicago, judged by Marcela Mendez, Doug Rioth, and Ann Yeung. Each winner received $2,000 to further their education and a $500 Lyon & Healy gift certificate. On March 6–8, 25 competitors from six countries performed Etude no. 6 by Eric Schmidt, Une châtelaine en sa tour by Gabriel Fauré, and Le jardin mouillé by Jacques de la Presle.
Murphy and Lee both currently study with Nancy Allen at The Juilliard School. Murphy won first prize at the 30th Nippon International Harp Competition in 2018. She also won first prize in the Advanced Division of the American Harp Society’s 24th National Competition in 2021, where Lee won second prize. Lee was the co-winner of Yale’s 2022 William Waite Concerto Competition. Kelly has been studying with Sarah O’Brien at Zurich University of the Arts since 2021, and was also an Erasmus exchange student there in 2019. She graduated in 2020 from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with Caryl Thomas. She reached the semi-finals at the Dutch Harp Competition and received a special prize at the Szeged International Harp Competition in Hungary.
For more information, visit the competition website.
