World Premiere!

Text Cardiff Camac Harp Weekend, 7-8 February, with images of harpists Catrin Finch, Corrina Hewat, Gwenllian Llyr, Tara Minton. Tsvetelina Likova, Veronika Lemishenko.

A harp extravaganza almost seems to downplay this wonderful weekend we had in Cardiff.

I was so pleased to be invited to perform with Sirius Chau in Cardiff - the perfect setting to share the world premiere of Sun Keting’s Between the Blossoms for flute and harp which we commissioned with an award from the UKHA. The piece is in 4 movements, tracing a shift from enclosure to self-definition. The more restrained first movement, ‘In Her Chamber’, leads to a lyrical and flowing ‘Silk’. ‘Ink’ begins to move away from the feminine sounds more traditionally associated with flute and harp, growing gradually from a single note to a rhythmic dance between harp and flute, before the unpredictable nature of the final movement is unleashed.

It was a true joy to work with Rockey (Sun Keting) on this piece, exploring the different sounds that our instrument create separately and together. We’ve shared some clips of the live performance on Instagram, and look forward to performing it again very soon, including at the One Harp World in Toronto this summer!

We’re incredibly grateful to Elen for inviting us to perform, and curating such a wonderful weekend of concerts and workshops. We all spend so long sitting in practise rooms or on a screen, but a weekend like this is invaluable in helping us grow as musicians - whether we are performing or observing. One lady in my workshop had been playing for less than 3 months, yet I know the workshop allowed her the freedom to explore the beauty of the harp even with very limited technical ability. As a musician, we can also become guilty of not attending other concerts as we are always so busy, so I was very pleased to take the weekend to appreciate all the incredible variety of music on offer from all the wonderful artists. I truly hope there will be another festival in the future!