CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Some of the world’s most talented young harpists will be performing at the University of Illinois during the Illinois Summer Harp Class, June 10-12 on the Urbana campus. The concert series that is part of the annual program will feature the world premiere of a piece inspired by the music of recording artist Lady Gaga, a piece commissioned especially for the 2010 iSHC, and a recital featuring music from the Disney-Pixar movie “Up.”
Nol Wann, the 16-year-old winner of the 2010 International Harp Competition held in the Netherlands, will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 11 in the Memorial Room in Smith Hall.
Directed by U. of I. music professor Ann Yeung, the classes are hosted by the School of Music’s Office of Public Engagement. Participants, who attend three days of intensive classes, also perform a series of afternoon and evening concerts that are free and open to the public.
Chen-Yu Huang, a doctoral student in harp performance at the U. of I. and the 2010 Krannert Debut Artist, will open the concert series with a performance at 7:30 p.m. June 10 in Smith Recital Hall, 805 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana. Huang’s program will include works by Couperin, Handel, Liszt and others.
Noël Wann, the 16-year-old winner of the 2010 International Harp Competition held in the Netherlands, and the Henk Alkema “Forgotten Lore” performance prize, will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 11 in the Memorial Room in Smith Hall. Wann, who will be a student at the U. of I. this fall, will perform the Alkema work along with pieces by J.S. Bach, Fauré, Carlos Salzedo and others.
The afternoon recitals will feature Katherine Denler and Liya Huang at noon June 11 in the Smith Hall Memorial Room.
Molly O’Roark and Peter Huang, on an electric lever harp, will perform along with the U. of I. Harp Quartet at 2 p.m. on June 12 in the Music Building auditorium, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana. The program will feature selections from “Up.”
All participants will perform in the closing recital, to be held at 7:30 p.m. June 12 in the Music Building auditorium. The program will include the world premiere of “bot.ga,” an ensemble piece inspired by the Lady Gaga son “Bad Romance,” and a performance of Julia Kay Jamieson’s composition “robots,” which was commissioned for the 2010 iSHC.
More information is available on the School of Music website.
