6th International Harp Competition in Szeged starts on November 29
An international harp competition with the participation of 60 young musicians from 29 countries will start on Tuesday in Szeged - MTI, the Hungarian News Agency announced last Thursday.
The competition, organized for the 6th time this year, was started in 2007 by Natalia Gorbunova, harpist of the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and harp teacher at the Péter Király-König Music School. Already held at REÖK all-arts center in previous years, the International Harp Competition is an event where young musicians can regularly measure how much they have improved. In recent years, 300 harpists from more than 40 countries participated in the competition.
Harp artist Anastasia Razvalyaeva, the artistic director of the competition, said that the competition covers the entire spectrum of musical studies, and students enter in three categories: music school students under 14, high school students up to 19 years old, and budding artists under 25 years old.
The harp teacher of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music explained that the competition program is compiled in such a way as to allow the contestants to present their individuality in the field of freely chosen works and in addition to making the participants somewhat comparable through the compulsory pieces.
Their aim is also to promote Hungarian culture internationally, so the compulsory works in all competitions are works by Hungarian composers. This year, the works of Zoltán Kodály were chosen, on the occasion of the composer's 140th anniversary of birth.
The audience of the competition, which runs until December 4, can learn how diverse it is to play the instrument considered the most ancient. The prizes, as well as the instruments required for the competition, are provided by the French harp manufacturer Camac Harps. The company also presents its latest developments during the event, so a harp that has not been played in Hungary before will be played at the competition.
The opening of the event will be held on Tuesday in the Reök Palace, at which time the winner of the U25 category of the 2019 competition, Tatiana Repnikova, will give a solo concert. After that, competitions for all three age groups will be held in the Art Nouveau building.
The opening ceremony starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 29.
Attendance is free.
Featured image only for illustration. Photo by Victor Serban on Unsplash
