Final Round

by Elizabeth Jaxon

All seats in the hall of the K&W building here in Utrecht had been sold out days before audience members flocked to witness the final round of the First International Harp Competition of the Netherlands, which took place at 7:30pm yesterday evening. Each of the three finalists - Rino Kageyama, Noël Wan, and Eleanor Turner - performed Alberto Ginastera's Concerto for Harp, followed by a solo encore of their choice. The concerto was accompanied by the Utrecht Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, directed by Maestro Etienne Siebens. They did an excellent job with this difficult work, while remaining flexible and sensitive to the individual characters of the soloists, creating a fresh interpretation each time.

The Mayor of Utrecht, Aleid Wolfsen, was present for the finals and gave the opening address of the evening. Over 1,000 viewers from around the world tuned into the live-stream to follow the event. Artistic director Remy van Kesteren then introduced the first contestant, Rino Kageyama, to the stage, who entered in a stunning red dress, holding herself with grace and poise.


Rino Kageyama (Photos credit of Nike Martens)

Rino gave a flawless performance. Her warm and fluid tone, remarkable precision and control, and mature sense of musical timing created a captivating atmosphere. After an incredible performance of the Ginastera, her chosen solo piece, Légende by Henriette Renié, with its lush arpeggios and virtuosic feats, was possibly even more breathtaking. Expressive lighting effects, thanks to the board's logistics official, Bram Vercammen, enhanced the drama of all three performances tonight.

Rino is from Japan, but moved to Paris, France last September to study with Isabelle Perrin, after having won 2nd place in the Lily Laskine harp competition (when no first prize was awarded). She explained in our interview following the final round that she felt it was important to come study music in Europe, because the majority of the harp repertoire that she studies is of European origin, though the transition has been a big change culturally.

The second contestant of the night was Noël Wan, from the USA. Having just turned 16 years old on March 17th, she was the youngest of all the contestants in the competition, which made it all the more incredible that she lead the orchestra tonight with such strength. Noël played with youthful fire but also with intense focus. She introduced her solo piece, Secret Garden (written in 2000) by Peter van Onna, saying that she had been inspired to play it because she loves the movie and the book and that the music makes her think of the beautiful landscapes of the Netherlands. She charmed the audience by throwing in a few words of greeting in Dutch.



Noël explained afterward that the way she is able to practice five hours a day and still keep up with her high school studies is that she is homeschooled. Instead of attending school every day, she follows online classes through an organization called the Potter's School, which involves web presentations given by a teacher and interaction with the other members of her class over the internet. Having been homeschooled myself (though with a different kind of structure than she describes here), I can attest to the freedom of choice that such an education leaves a young learner to pursue what most captures his/her interests. Those who take a more creative, personally-tailored approach to learning often understand the best what kind of self-drive it takes to succeed.

The final contestant of the night, after an intermission, was Eleanor Turner, from England. In contrast, Eleanor was one of the older and most experienced of the harpists competing this week. Though she didn't give as flawless a performance as the first two we heard, and often overplayed her harp past the snapping point of the strings in her enthusiasm, she won the audience over with her vibrant character and incredibly rich musicality. She played with an exuberance that brought the orchestra to life, and her face conveyed a whole palette of different expressions along with each musical expression. Especially popular was her closing solo piece: Winter and Summer, from Astor Piazolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which she selected specifically to follow Ginastera's concerto because the concerto was written in Buenos Aires.



It was a pleasure to talk to her afterward, as she is so passionate and open about what she does. I was especially interested to hear that she has a seven-year-old son back home. She described him in loving terms as being extremely supportive of her preparation for this competition, sometimes curling up to nap in her studio while she practiced. He also has started to learn the harp and will take his first-level exam next week, but his main passion is art.

Waiting for the results following a competition can be extremely difficult, so I conducted interviews for the internet live-stream, to pass the time and to give the audience a chance to better get to know the people involved in the competition. I talked to several of the competitors, the leader of the stage crew, the festival's website developer Gert Wijnalda, and even Erika Waardenburg. I even got to talk with the conductor of the orchestra, who talked about working with the soloists. When I asked him if there is any advice he would have for soloists working with an orchestra, he emphasized that it is important for the soloist to arrive with his/her own musical ideas and character, because he doesn't wish to change anything about the musician.



After one hour, the stage had been rearranged and the results were ready to be announced. The audience gathered back in the hall in anticipation. Chairman of the jury, piano-forte specialist Bart van Oort, opened the awards ceremony. "Not being a harp player, I am totally swept away by the harp, by the music, by the playing we heard this week," he began. He congratulated the team of young organizers, "who are in fact not so young in the way they do things." He then presented the Schumann Award for the best accompaniment of the Schumann Lieder to Christophe Bielefeld, adding these comments from the jury: "Christophe Bielefeld, in Schumann, he did not just accompany, he did more than accompany. He stimulated the singer, he gave direction to the singer, he made expressivity possible, besides being a reliable and stable musical partner."

The Forgotten Lore Award was given to Noël Wan for the best performance of the contemporary work by Henk Alkema in the second stage. Then the Peutz Audience Award was presented to Eleanor Turner, determined by a popular vote by the audience, immediately following the final round.

The three prizes were then awarded:
1st prize: Noël Wan
2nd prize: Rino Kageyama
3rd prize: Eleanor Turner

Along with each prize, the chairman of the jury read comments about each performance from the jury members:
"Eleanor Turner is a very personal artist, she captures the warmness of the South American rhythm and timbres. She shows that she really loves and enjoys this music she plays, and she is a professional and intelligent performer as well as a mature artist."

For Rino: "The encore blew me away. Rino has great poise and control. She is very centered, has a high quality and sense of style, and she creates rhythmic excitement."

"Noel Wan is a huge talent. She has hidden power and amazing maturity. She is an enchanting player." And finally, the best quote of the evening: "The garden of your tone color is no longer a secret."