A hearty congratulations to all finalists in the Intermediate I Division of the 2021 American Harp Society National Competition! Your commitment, passion and musicality were strikingly evident in all your performances.
Get to know the finalists below, and watch the winners' performances on our YouTube Channel.
Ava Yeh
What was the most fun part of participating in the National Competition?
The most rewarding part about participating was seeing my improvement as a harpist throughout learning the repertoire and preparing for this competition. I also enjoyed listening to all the incredible harpists who participated!
What's next for you?
I will be attending the Young Artists’ Harp Seminar Online summer camp. I look forward to improving as a musician and learning from the incredible faculty, as well as meeting other harpists!
Ella Brown
Did you learn anything that surprised you?
I think what most surprised me was how much work was needs to go into learning and perfecting the music to make it ready for the competition. After learning one of my pieces for months that I thought was already good, my teacher was still telling me more things that I needed to practice, rhythms that were incorrect, and articulation. It is amazing how many details are hidden within a piece, and how you can never truly be finished learning it.
What advice would you share with a harpist who is thinking about entering the National Competition in 2023?
I believe that it is very important to start working on your pieces early. It took months for me to really unpack my pieces and bring them to a higher level, and there is always more you can learn from a piece. My other tip of advice is to do lots of practice performances! I probably did more than 10 mock performances for friends and family, all of my schoolteachers, some classmates, and for recitals too!
Hannah Chen
What was the most fun part of participating in the National Competition?
The most fun part of participating in the National Competition was the excitement of playing live in front of an audience for the first time in a while. It gave me a lot of motivation when it was hard to find some during the pandemic!
What advice would you share with a harpist who is thinking about entering the National Competition in 2023?
I would say to always put yourself out there, you never know what will happen.
Lydia Kessler
What advice would you share with a harpist who is thinking about entering the National Competition in 2023?
Try to get other harpists’ opinions on your pieces. Also, practice performing for other people and record yourself. I had to record for a camp before recording for the competition, and I think that helped me make my preliminary round recording.
Did you learn anything that surprised you?
Though I was merely playing in my living room, it still had the feeling of a competition. (Also, I learned that a lot of things can go wrong when you try to hook up an external microphone to a laptop).
Nathan Zhou
What's next for you?
I will continue learning and practicing the harp in high school. I hope to be able to perform more.
What advice would you give a harpist thinking about competing?
Entering the competition requires perseverance and hard work, but it is so rewarding in the end. Try your best, and don't give up!
Sophia Jho
What was the most fun part of participating in the National Competition?
The most fun part about participating in the National Competition was listening to other harpists and, specifically, hearing different interpretations of the same pieces that I had gotten to know so well with my amazing teacher, Gretchen Van Hoesen. Even though I was thoroughly familiar with the pieces, listening to other harpists brought the novelty of listening to those pieces for the first time.
What advice would you share with a harpist who is thinking about entering the National Competition in 2023?
I think it's important to have fun while you play the harp. If you love playing, it will translate into your music and to your audience.
Sophia Love
What was the most fun part of participating in the National Competition?
The best part of the competition for me was the experience of learning the songs and playing in the finals. I also really enjoyed that there was a Jazzy song as a part of the competition pieces. That was super fun!
What advice would you share with a harpist who is thinking about entering the National Competition in 2023?
I would suggest you focus on having fun and not doing it for the results. The judges assess you for 15-30 minutes of playing. The real competition is what you do the other 10 months, such as learning the music, challenging yourself, and most importantly the enjoyment of playing the harp!
