GUILDHALL SCHOOL
Harp Festival
24–25 June 2024
Digital Programmes
Please silence your devices and lower the brightness of your display.
This digital programme is intended for mobile devices, and may be viewed throughout the performance.
Do you have thoughts on our recent switch to digital programmes? Fill out our Audience Feedback Form.
Silk Street
Eating is not permitted in the auditorium. Drinks are allowed inside the auditorium in polycarbonates.
Filming or recording of the performance is not permitted.
Latecomers will be able to enter the auditorium at a suitable break in the performance.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
Chairman of the Board of Governors
Emily Benn
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan
Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Armin Zanner
Select Programme:
Five World Premieres for Voice and Harp
Monday 24 June
1pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
A Journey Through the Ages with the Early Harp Department
Monday 24 June
2.15pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
"A Leaf From The Album" – A Lecture-Recital by Alex Rider
Monday 24 June
4pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Park Stickney: Jazz Harp Workshop
Tuesday 25 June
11.30 – 4.30pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Strictly Stickney – The Inimitable Jazz Harpist Park Stickney in Recital
Tuesday 25 June
6.30pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Five World Premieres for Voice and Harp
Monday 24 June
1pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free, no tickets required
CJ Brook At Roane Head*
Sholto Biscoe-Taylor tenor
Alicja Cetnar harp
Britten Three Folk Songs
Lemady – David of White the Rock – Bird Scarer’s song
Nadia Potter soprano
Lea Kozokaro harp
Jack Murray Into the Twilight*
Molly Baker soprano
Emily Sullivan harp
River Fernandez Testimonies of the people of Burnrest Village, 2239 *
Bori Gunyits voice
Lea Kozokaro harp
Sally Beamish Awuya for solo harp
Bethany Caswell harp
Will Everitt Dame Le Mano*
Avery Lafrentz voice
Sabrina Savenkova harp
Caroline Lizotte ‘Scherzo del Pueblo’ from Suite Galactique
Emily Sullivan harp
Benji Gronlie Hope*
Madeleine Keane soprano
Emilia Agajew harp
*world premiere
A Journey Through the Ages with
the Early Harp Department
Monday 24 June
2.15pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free, no tickets required
Join the Early Harp Department for a journey through the ages!
Playing on authentic copies of early harps, we will visit the court of Alfonso the X in medieval Spain; France for the music of the Troubadours and the subversive music of the Trobairitz (female troubadours); Italy for one of the only solo baroque pieces written specifically for triple harp; the UK for some Playford dances and Germany for a touch of Handel.
We look forward to you joining us on our grand tour!
Repertoire to be announced from stage.
"A Leaf From The Album" – A Lecture-Recital by Alex Rider
Monday 24 June
4pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free, no tickets required
Guildhall alumnus Alexander Rider shares delicious rarities from his treasure trove, with stories and music from Fauré, Tournier, Renié, Saint-Saëns and others.
Repertoire to be announced from stage.
Alexander Rider
harp
With interests encompassing period performance to the newest music, Alexander freelances with major ensembles throughout the United Kingdom. These include the BBC Concert BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, London Chamber Orchestra, English Touring Opera, Brighton Philharmonic, Chroma and (on the Erard) he appears with groups including the Gabrieli Consort and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Alexander is noted for his affinity with French music at the turn of the last century, and for his work on original instruments of the period. He has conducted extensive research into the music and players of the time, delving into rich and often hidden histories. Audiences have been delighted by Alexander’s erudition, wit and eye for fascinating detail. In this vein, and using a French Erard harp built in 1902, Alexander has given numerous lecture recitals to great acclaim, at the 2022 World Harp Congress in Cardiff, for the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest), at the Espace Camac (Paris, on instruments from the Camac collection) The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Harp on Wight Festival. Alexander is delighted to have recorded ‘Fresque Marine’, a disc of rare French works for the harp, part of a new series for the Willowhayne label.
Alexander studied with Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly, and was then a scholarship student of Imogen Barford at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. From here, he graduated with distinction, and was subsequently honoured with a Guildhall Artists’ fellowship.
He is a visiting guest tutor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Park Stickney: Jazz Harp Workshop
Tuesday 25 June
11.30am –1.30pm
2.30pm – 4.30pm
Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free, no tickets required
The inimitable Park Stickney is an internationally acclaimed soloist, recording artist and jazz harp specialist who has performed and taught at every major harp festival in the world.
In this Workshop Day he will work with Guildhall harpists on their Jazz harp skills, hopefully passing on a little of the Park Stickney magic.
Generously supported by Salvi Music London.
Strictly Stickney – The Inimitable Jazz Harpist Park Stickney in Recital
Tuesday 25 June
6.30pm Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free admission, reserve your seats by emailing harp@gsmd.ac.uk
The programme will be announced from the stage and will be a mix of Jazz standards and Park's own compositions.
Generously supported by Salvi Music London.
Park Stickney
harp
Swiss American harpist Park Stickney is constantly in motion, giving concerts from Adelaide to Zaragoza.
Some highlights from his career include:
2011 Solo jazz concert at the Berlin Philharmoniker lunch series (+1000 people)
2016 Sold-out solo jazz concert at Shanghai Sennheiser Hall (1,200 people)
2017 European premiere of Lee Bracegirdle’s “Legends of the Old Castle” with the Baden Baden Philharmonie.
2020 Premiered his solo improvised version of the 9 Beethoven Symphonies at the Folle Journée de Nantes
Stickney was the subject of a film in 2018 by Plans Fixes a Swiss series which aims to document the French-speaking part of the country through the eyes of regional personalities. He’s appeared on the French television program La Boîte à Musique, performed at the White House and on the QE2. He has recorded with the Crash Test Dummies, James Carter, Carly Simon, Ian McDonald, Jonathan Coulton, played with young oud students in the West Bank, given concerts in a mine in South-Tyrol, in a thermal bath in Switzerland, at the White House (twice), in Sri Lanka, in Hong Kong, in Moscow, Madras, Moldavia… He’s played Broadway pits in NY, toured with The Fantasticks in Japan, and regularly plays on page 97 of Patricia Cornwell’s novel From Potter’s Field.
In addition, Park teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, France, and the Milan Conservatory, and has given masterclasses and workshops at harp festival everywhere. He graduated from the Juilliard School, and in 2021 completed a PhD exploring extreme harp pedaling (Trinity Laban Conservatoire).
Park is also an enthusiastic and spectacularly absent Swiss volunteer fireman.
Donate
We hope you thoroughly enjoy today’s performance at Guildhall School. If you feel inspired by our students and would like to support world-class training for these talented performers and production artists, we would be grateful for a voluntary donation.
Join the Guildhall Circle to access priority booking, exclusive events and more while providing vital support to our students. Join us at gsmd.ac.uk/circle.
Alternatively, you can make your gift using our contactless GoodBox devices located at the Box Office and foyer bars. Thank you.
Please visit our website at gsmd.ac.uk
Guildhall School is provided by the City of London as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation.