British harpist Juliana Myslov wins the Dutch Harp Competition 2014.
On
Sunday, March 2nd, 17-year old Juliana Myslov, from the United Kingdom,
was crowned the overall winner of the Dutch Harp Competition 2014 –
part of the Dutch Harp Festival. Not only did she win the First Prize –
an award of € 10,000 and a concert tour in the 2014/15 season – but also
the Audience Award, the Paul Patterson Prize for the best
interpretation of the required piece, and the Dutch Radio 4 Young Talent
Prize (studio/concert recording).
The
second prize, an amount of € 5,000, went to the German harpist Markus
Thalheimer (Germany), while Shiho Minami (Japan) took home the third
prize – an amount of € 2,500.
The
final round of the competition took place on Sunday, March 2nd, in the
Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn concert hall of Utrecht. The harp performances
were accompanied by the LUDWIG orchestra under the direction of Ed
Spanjaard. Each of the three finalists played the first movement of a
concerto by either Reinhold Glière or Carl Reineke, the required Piece
Fantasia, a brand-new composition by Paul Patterson, and a
‘storytelling’ solo of their own choice.
The international jury
consisted of pianist Nino Gvetadze, percussionist Ramon Lormans,
harpists Sivan Magen, Isabelle Moretti, and Gwyneth Wentink and violist
Mikhail Zemtsov, under the chairmanship of Volkskrant-music editor Guido
van Oorschot. The final round was broadcasted live on the Dutch Harp
Festival website, and parts of the concert will be broadcasted on
national Dutch radio station Radio 4.
The fourth edition of the Dutch Harp Festival will take place in the spring of 2016.