Two big harp conferences announced this week that plans are well underway for their summer events. The program is taking shape for the 12th World Harp Congress July 20–26, 2014, in Sydney, Australia. Conference committee chair Alice Giles has promised a program that “highlights the harp’s broad and versatile repertoire, featuring all genres of music, from the harp’s folk origins, through to early and traditional classical, jazz, and the most adventurous contemporary experimental music.” The star-studded evening lineup includes (in order of appearance) Alice Giles’ Seven Harp Ensemble, Dan Yu, Ann Heymann, Nicolas Caballero, Rudiger Opermann, Stasa Mirkovic Grujic, Sirin Pancaroglu, Astrid Harring, Gwyneth Wentink, Motoshi Kosako, Anaïs Gaudemard, Remy van Kesteren, Naoko Yoshino, Isabelle Moretti, Alisa Sadikova, Bernard Andres, Catriona McKay, Felice Pomeranz, Paul Hurst, Maria Cleary, Andrew Lawrence-King, Natalia Mann, Sivan Magen, and Louise Johnson. Many more daytime performances and workshops are also planned.
The American Harp Society has announced that registration is now open for its 41st National Conference June 22–26, 2014, in New Orleans. The “Harp Carnivale” theme of the conference is loaded with jazz and harp ensemble, along with never before heard works. Baltazar Juarez will give the opening recital. Other featured evening performers (in order of appearance) include Carol Robbins, the harp ensembles Café de le Harp, Chicago Harp Quartet, and Modern Harp Quartet, Motoshi Kosako, Patrice Fisher, Felice Pomeranz, Athy, Rebecca Babin, Riza Printup, Kimberly Houser, Park Stickney, Maryen Munos, Marcela Mendez, Emily Levin, Emily Hoile, Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton, Gretchen Van Hoesen, Deborah Henson-Conant, Eleanor Turner, Elaine Barber, and Kerstin Allvin. Many other daytime performances and workshops are also planned.
