Friday, 25th October 2019

Opening Concert
EIRA LYNN JONES
and
The Royal Northern College of Music
Harp Ensemble

The opening concert will feature the sound of multiple pedal harps. Works by Carlos Salzedo, Bernard Andrès, Caroline Lizotte, Catherine Kontz and jazz legend Dorothy Ashby will be a feast for the ears and the eyes.  From glissandos to graphic scores, this performance will showcase the unique sound world of these magnificent instruments.
Welsh harpist EIRA LYNN JONES is a versatile musician, who has a passion for creativity and originality. Her eclectic career ranges from orchestral work, recordings and commissions to chamber music collaborations. She is known equally for her committed, dynamic playing and her innovative, dedicated teaching. As Head of Harp at the RNCM, she loves inspiring young musicians and has received invitations to run workshops in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Sweden, U.S.A. and South Africa.
While a student at the Royal Northern College of Music, Eira won numerous awards, including a Guinness Foundation Scholarship and an I.S.M. Performer Award, resulting in her BBC Radio 3 debut on the ‘Young Musicians’ series. Further studies with Kathleen Bride at the Manhattan School of Music in New York led to a Masters Degree. Invited to join the Manhattan Contemporary Music Ensemble, she premiered new works for harp, which ignited her interest in researching unusual and varied repertoire.  She did indeed take her harp to the party; to Carnegie Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre of Performing Arts and Creativity, and even to the top of the Empire State Building!
Her 2 solo albums include pieces which she enjoys teaching and playing: works by Bernard Andrès, Marcel Grandjany, Fiona Clifton-Welker and first recordings of compositions by Esther Swift, Anna Appleby, Sally Beamish and Eddie McGuire.
“...I love the album...a diversity of music, a very accomplished technique and your heart coming through”. Alan Stivell
She also has her own publications: Pick and Mix (warm-up exercises for all levels), Portraits - original works for lever/pedal harp, Daffodils - popular Welsh tunes.
Eira approaches each project with passion, and is a true ambassador for this most magical of instruments.
www.eiralynnjones.com
THE RNCM HARP ENSEMBLE is directed by Eira Lynn Jones, and have performed across the UK. An invitation to the Huddersfield International Contemporary Music Festival, resulted in a sold out concert, broadcast on Radio 3. Other highlights include playing under Dippy the Dinosaur at the Natural History Music, London, at the European Harp Symposium, Cardiff and the Baltic Gallery, Gateshead where the celebrated the music of John Cage with 20 harps!  They have premiered works by Catherine Kontz, Grace Evangeline-Mason, Tim Garland and Paul Patterson.  Each member of the harp class participate in the ensemble and come from Wales, Scotland, England, Belgium and China! They will also be performing at the World Harp Congress in Cardiff 2020. ​
EIRA LYNN JONES and The Royal Northern College of Music Harp Ensemble
A versatile and eclectic performer and widely regarded as one of the U.K's leading harp teachers, Eira Lynn is Head of Harp at the RNCM in Manchester.                         
The opening concert will feature the sound of multiple pedal harps. Works by Carlos Salzedo, Bernard Andres, Caroline Lizotte, Caterine Kontz and jazz legend Dorothy Ashby will be a feast for the ears and the eyes. From glissandos to graphic scores, this performance will showcase the unique sound world of these magnificent instruments
Saturday, 26th October 2019

Performance Platform
featuring winners of the 2019 North London Festival Camac Harp Competition

CLAUDIA LUCIA LAMANNA
(from Italy)
Italian harpist Claudia Lucia Lamanna performs around the world as soloist, chamber musician and in orchestras, since she was very young. As a soloist, she has already performed in the Main House and the Opera Balcony of the Oslo Opera House, the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Merkin Concert Hall in New York, the Auer Hall at Indiana University in Bloomington, and many other venues. She was invited to give recitals in Ancenis, France, during the final evening of the Festival International de Harpe in 2012, where Claudia shared a concert with Isabelle Moretti, in Caernarfon at the Wales International Harp Festival in 2014 and in Bangkok at the Thailand International Harp Festival and Youth Competition in 2016. She performed in Canada and Australia at the World Harp Congress, held in Vancouver in 2011 and Sydney in 2014, and also for the Italian national broadcaster RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana. Among her performances as soloist with orchestra, in 2017 she has performed the Ginastera Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, Op. 25with the Norwegian Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra of Oslo, led by Ernest Martínez Izquierdo. 
 
Claudia recently won the internship for 2017-2019 as Principal Harp for the La Scala Academy Orchestra in Milan. She has also collaborated with various other orchestras, including the Teatro Petruzzelli Orchestra in Bari, Italy. 
 
Claudia has had many successes in national and international competitions including Fifth Prize at the prestigious 10th USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington in 2016, one of the most important harp competition in the world, where she also received the Zaniboni Prize, given to the highest ranked Italian contestant. She is also First Prize winner of the Camac Harp Competition 2019, held in London, of the Premio Claudio Abbado 2015 – XI Edizione del Premio Nazionale delle Arti, held in Turin, Italy, and of the Thailand International Harp Festival and Youth Competition 2012, held in Bangkok, including the Trophy offered by Her Royal Highness the Queen of Thailand. 
 
Claudia completed her Master’s Degree with top honors at the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music at 17 years old, becoming the youngest graduate of that degree in Italy. She continued her studies with Jana Boušková at the Koninklijk Conservatorium of Brussels and with Isabelle Perrin at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, where she achieved the Artist Diploma – Master’s Degree. She just completed her Advanced Diploma in Performance with Karen Vaughan at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she has been selected to join the prestigious Bicentenary Scholarship scheme, through which she will release her debut album.
Mared is appearing at our festival as she was the runner-up in the annual Camac Harp Competition - organized by the French harp manufacturers Camac - which is held during the North London Festival in May. Since 2015,  it has become a popular feature  for Harp on Wight to invite the winner and runner-up of the competition to perform a concert on the Saturday afternoon of our festival.
Since 2016 Mared has been a student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Her harp teacher is Caryl Thomas.
Mared first decided to play the harp at the age of six. Although she couldn't read music, her inspiring teacher taught her by ear. Mared  had to sit with three cushions on her chair in order to reach the strings on her first lever harp !
Playing the harp has given Mared the opportunity to travel widely, including visits to Thailand, Italy, France and Belgium.
In addition to this years Camac Competition, Mared has been successful in other harp competitions at the Caernarfon International Harp Festival in North Wales and the Felix Godefried Harp Competition in Belgium.
Mared loves attending harp festivals and we are very pleased to welcome her to the Isle of Wight.

Mared Pugh-Evans

Saturday, 26th October 2019

AILIE ROBERTSON
(from Scotland)

A highly anticipated concert of traditional and contemporary Scottish music by the multi-award winning harpist.

​
Ailie Robertson from Edinburgh is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s leading young traditional musicians. She is a musician in the broadest sense: composer, arranger, teacher, improviser and harp virtuoso. Her accomplishment on the clarsach is such that leading Irish flautist Niall Keegan said: “Ailie’s synthesis of Irish, Scottish and contemporary harping technique into an individual style represents the realisation of otherwise unimagined possibilities for the Celtic harp.” Ailie grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was immersed in the harp world from an early age. She began playing the clarsach when she was eleven years old and through her piano and clarsach lessons she developed a love for both classical and traditional music.  She has won a plethora of awards for her harp playing. 
Sunday, 27th October 2019

IMPROMPTU HARP ENSEMBLE 
(in collaboration with Royal Northern College of Music and students from the Festival)

A performance from students that have attended the workshop “Flying With The Birds” conducted by Eira Lynn Jones 
Sunday, 27th October 2019

GRAINNE HAMBLY
 (from Ireland)

"Absolute mastery
of the Irish harp."
Gráinne Hambly from County Mayo, Ireland is an internationally recognised exponent of the Irish harp, and is in great demand as a performer and teacher, both at home and abroad. Gráinne started to play Irish music on the tin whistle at an early age, before moving on to the concertina and later the harp. She lived in Belfast for six years, where she completed a Masters Degree in Musicology, awarded by Queen’s University (1999). Her main research topic was folk music collections and the harp in 18th-century Ireland. She also completed the Graduate Diploma in Education (Music) at the University of Limerick.
​
Gráinne has been playing professionally as a solo musician for a number of years, and has performed on various occasions in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil, Colombia, Israel, and Japan, as well as touring extensively in the United States, giving concerts, workshops and masterclasses. She has also toured and recorded with various artists, including the Belfast Harp Orchestra, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann and Irish Christmas In America.
She has attracted glowing praise for her live performances and recorded material, which brilliantly showcase what has been described as her ‘absolute mastery of the Irish harp’. Known for the sensitivity and expressive quality of her air-playing, as well as her dynamic performance of dance tunes, Gráinne’s playing illustrates the full range and scope of this instrument. She specialises in teaching Irish traditional music ‘by ear’ and offers private lessons and intensive tuition options at her home, as well as teaching at various annual summer schools and harp festivals. 

Gráinne has featured on a number of recordings both as guest artist and accompanist. She has released three critically acclaimed solo CDs, and two books of arrangements. Her most recent collaboration is with Scottish harper William Jackson, with whom she frequently tours. They have released a recording Music from Ireland and Scotland (2009) and published some arrangements for harp ensemble.

Monday, 28th October 2019

Talk by
ANNE DENHOLM
​(from UK)

“The  Contemporary Harp”: An hour-long talk exploring why the pedal harp is one of the most valuable tools for the 21st Century composer. As more and more composers are choosing to use our versatile instrument, come and find out why.

Anne is one of Britain’s leading harpists, and was the former Official Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales. Appointed to the Office in July 2015, she passed on this prestigious title at the end of June. In addition to her classical repertoire Anne is increasingly in demand as an interpreter and performer of new music. She is a founding member of the contemporary quartet, ‘The Hermes Experiment’, which regularly commissions new works for its idiosyncratic combination of instruments (clarinet, soprano voice, harp and double bass). Anne graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Royal Academy of Music with distinction, and has won numerous prizes in local, national and international music festivals and competitions. She has performed as a soloist at the Wigmore Hall, Buckingham Palace and other venues across Britain. Anne also enjoys working with orchestras and choirs, and is particularly keen on using music in community and educational contexts. www.annedenholm.com 
Monday, 28th October 2019

MONIKA STADLER
​(from Austria)
"AWAY FOR A WHILE"
Elements of Jazz, Classical, World, Folk and improvisational music.
Monika combines the highest musical aspirations with technical brilliance.

“My music is very personal, an expression of my soul, my spirituality and my femininity. It is drawn from being connected with nature, from the rhythms of life, from the experience of inner and environmental moods and of silence.”
Monika Stadler is one of the most creative solo harpists in Europe. She studied classical harp at the Vienna University of Music with Prof. Blovsky-Miller (diploma with highest honours), and jazz harp with Deborah Henson-Conant, in Boston, USA, where she won several awards at international jazz harp competitions.
After engagements with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, she only performs as a soloist, in duet or trio formations, exclusively with her own projects. Apart from her intensive schedule as a performer throughout of Europe, USA, Canada, Middle East and Asia, she also teaches many jazz & improvisation workshops for harpists worldwide.
Currently she is a guest professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK, as well as a staff member of the University of Music and Drama in Vienna, Austria.
Till now she released 11 CDs (mainly her own compositions except one with jazz standards) as well as several music books at Creighton`s Collection, UK, and the music publishing company Musikverlag Doblinger, Austria.
For detailed information please see www.harp.at
She offers a program beyond clichés, combining elements of classical, jazz, world and improvised music in her unique style. It is her constant goal to expand the techniques of harp playing as well as to plumb the depths of the soul. In her own ingenious way, Monika Stadler combines the highest musical aspirations with technical brilliance.
Tuesday, 29th October 2019

 "SEA AND SKY"
HELEN HANKEY (harp), MERLYNNA JOHNSON (harp)
​and ANNELIES SCOTT (cello)

A journey between the Sea and the Sky with harp and cello
Helen is a concert harpist, trained at The Royal Northern College of Music who has played with many of the leading orchestras including the RTE Concert Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Opera and Ballet companies. Helen has performed in various beautiful locations for a range of audiences including royalty. She has toured as a soloist, worked on a cruise liner and as a backing musician for pop groups. With a love of the outdoors, she is a qualified outdoor instructor and an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve. In 2017 she joined 7 other women to Row the Foot of Britain in 5 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes. This year we aim to row the ‘Toes of Ireland’. New to making the Idyllic Isle of Wight home, she is delighted to have taken up the post of Director of Music at Ryde School and has proudly joined the Harp on Wight team.
Tuesday, 29th October 2019

HARP AND HANG DUO
(from Italy)
MARIANNE GUBRI (harp)
PAOLO BORGHI (hang drum)
 “Menhir”
Marianne and Paolo entwine the different timbres of their instruments to create the combination of acoustics and sonority with light and dark contrast which communicates
the essence of Celtic, Mediterranean and tribal lands.
The instruments interact in a variety of harmonic sounds which create moving and melodic tone poems.

Harp & Hang duo is an Italian based Duo between Harpist Marianne Gubri and Percussionist Paolo Borghi.
The Hang is a new born metallic percussion; twined with the secular harp it is a very unusual and magical combination of sounds and atmospheres. 
By entwining the different timbres of the Harp and Hang we create a combination of acoustics and sonority with a light and dark contrast, communicating the essence of Celtic, Mediterranean and tribal lands, futuristic scenarios and dreamlike tales. The pulsating rhythm, distinctive and trenchant, articulates time, leaving space for a moving, melodic poem. The instruments interact in a variety of harmonic sounds, creating the perfect setting for meditative states and creativity, between innovation and tradition.

Harp & Hang has released 2 CDs: Nyanga in 2015 and Menhir in 2017.
Due to its unique and exceptional combination, our Duo has been invited in various countries: we have been on tour in Brazil  in France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, in the USA (100 concerts), in Dubai...
We have also been invited as speakers and musicians for a TEDx conference. ​