CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The heavenly sounds of harp music will be wafting through the air June 11-13, when the 2009 Summer Harp Class is in session at the University of Illinois.
Directed by U. of I. music professor Ann Yeung, the intensive classes are an annual event hosted by the university’s School of Music.
“This year’s participants come from throughout the U.S. and as far as Singapore,” Yeung said. “The concerts promise to bring outstanding harp talents to Urbana, Ill., and feature a world premiere and famous harp concertos.”
As part of the experience, participants perform a series of afternoon and evening concerts that are free and open to the public.
The three-day performance schedule opens at 7:30 p.m. on June 11 in the recital hall of Smith Hall, 805 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, with a concert featuring Chen-Yu Huang playing works by Carlos Salzedo and Lynne Palmer, and Reinhold Gliere’s “Harp Concerto.”
Other highlights include afternoon concerts featuring teen talents Molly O’Roark and Rebekah Wallen, at noon on June 12 in the Music Building auditorium, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana; and, at 2 p.m. on June 13 in the same location, Peter Huang and 12-year-old Chelsea Balmer, who has been selected to compete in national harp-competition finals later this summer.
Also notable will be a performance by international prize-winner Jing-I Jang at 7:30 p.m. on June 12 in Smith Hall’s Memorial Room. She will perform compositions by Bach, Fauré, Hindemith and others.
The classes will conclude with a final concert by all participants at 7 p.m. on June 13 in the Music Building auditorium. Class members will perform the world premiere of Julia Jamieson’s composition “between my balloon and the moon.”
For a complete harp-concert schedule, see the calendar listings on the School of Music’s online calendar.
