13th USA International Harp Competition (2025)

May 14 - 24, 2025

L to R: Minoo, Wan, Boucher, Lee, Murphy, Willemze, Hirai

Gold Medal: Shamim Minoo (Iran)
Silver Medal: Zhong Ming Wan (Canada)
Bronze Medal: Huw Boucher (Wales)
Fourth Prize: Woojin Lee (South Korea)
Fifth Prize: Renée Murphy (USA)
Sixth Prize: Joost Willemze (Netherlands)
Seventh Prize: Ekaterina Dvoretskaia (Russia)
Eighth Prize: Nanako Hirai (Japan)

Winners

  • Prize for the best performance of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchestra - Huw Boucher (Wales)

  • Prize for the best performance of the 8th USAIHC Ruth Inglefield Compositition Contest winning work (Kalen Smith’s Bioluminescence) - Renée Murphy (United States of America)

  • Prize for the best performance of Henriette Renié’s Pièce symphonique - Shamim Minoo (Iran)

  • Prize for the best performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 - Zhong Ming Wan (Canada)

  • 8th Ruth Inglefield Composition Contest Prize - Kalen Smith (Canada), Bioluminescence

Special Prizes

Patrizia Tassini (Jury President)
Karen Lindquist
Sivan Magen
Marcela Méndez
Ghislaine Petit Volta
Guan Wang
Arthur Fagen

Jury

Gold Medal:

  • Lyon & Healy or Salvi premium harp, up to a value of $63,000, sponsored by the Salvi Foundation (USA)

  • Solo debut recital sponsored by the Salvi Foundation (USA)

  • International Laureate Exchange Prize between the USA International Harp Competition and the International Harp Contest in Israel (laureate recital at the 22nd International Harp Contest in Israel)

  • Winner’s recital in Greater China (including Hong Kong and Macau) arranged by Hong Kong Harp Chamber Music

  • $6,000 – Susann McDonald Prize

Silver Medal: $5,500 – Hong Kong Harp Chamber Music Prize

Bronze Medal: $5,000 – Korea International Harp Competition Prize

Fourth Prize: $4,000 – Hong Kong Harp Centre Prize

Fifth Prize: $3,000 – Dr. Konrad William Rinne and Dr. Erzsébet Gaál Rinne Prize

Sixth Prize: $2,500 – Gorman Jones Prize

Seventh Prize: $2,000 – Mary Stuart and Judy Sights Honor Prize, given by Luke & Emily Fife

Eighth Prize: $1,500 – Eleanor Fell Memorial Prize

Special Prizes:

  • $1,000 – Concerto Prize in honor of Susann McDonald from the Weiger Lepke-Sims Family for the best performance of Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchestra by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

  • $1,000 – Mario Falcao Prize for the best performance of the 8th USAIHC Ruth Inglefield Compositition Contest winning work (Bioluminescence by Kalen Smith)

  • $1,000 – Emmanuel Ceysson Prize for the best performance of Pièce symphonique by Henriette Renié

  • $1,000 – Fleisher Family Prize for the best performance of Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach

8th Ruth Inglefield Composition Contest Prize:

  • $2,000 Prize, funded by a grant from the American Harp Society, Inc.

  • Publication of winning composition by Lyon & Healy Publishing

Prize Awards

Stage I

  • Choose one:

    • Wilhelm Posse: Etude No. 7 from Eight Great Studies

    • Eric Schmidt: Etude No. 6 

  • Choose one: (any edition) (note: repeats are optional but the total performance time of the two Scarlatti Sonatas selected should not exceed 8.5 minutes)

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in F minor, K466

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A Major, K208

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in B minor, K87  

  • Choose one: (any edition)

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A Major, K113

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A Major, K209

    • Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in E minor, K198

  • Gabriel Fauré: Impromptu, Op. 86          

Stage II

  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (any edition)

  • Choose one:

    • Germaine Tailleferre: Sonata for Harp 

    • Paul Hindemith: Sonata for Harp

  • Choose one:

    • Carlos Salzedo: Variations sur un thème dans le style ancien, Op. 30 (for competition performance, prepare a cut after Variation VII Molto piu Lento “Trills” to Variation XI Fuga to the end of the composition)

    • Mikhail Mchedelov: Variations on a Theme by Paganini (without repeats)

    • Elias Parish Alvars: Introduction and Variations on Favorite Airs from Bellini’s Opera “Norma,” Op. 36

Stage III

Free choice recital of 45 minutes (inclusive of breaks between pieces) to include:

  • Kalen Smith: Bioluminescence (winner of the 8th USAIHC Ruth Inglefield Composition Contest)
    and

  • Henriette Renié: Pièce symphonique

Stage IV

  • Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 93a (any edition)
    and

  • Free choice solo to be played after the concerto (8 minutes maximum)

Repertoire

Eugenia Alfier, Italy
Amanda Beranek, USA
Huw Boucher, Wales, UK
Agnese Contadini, Italy
Teodora Cotuna Rizea, Spain
Kikuko Dachy, France/Japan
Noelia de Freitas, France
Julia Dietrich, Germany
Ekaterina Dvoretskaia, Russia
Pauline Elkaim, France
Sebastian Gobbels, Canada
Julia Grünbaum, Germany
Qi Han, China
Nanako Hirai, Japan
Julia Johnson, USA

Competitors

Mai Kamiyama, Japan
Abigail Kent, USA
Hyejin Kim, South Korea
Kyunghwa Kim, South Korea
Rena Kojima, Japan
Momoko Komori, USA/Japan
Mariya Kondo, Japan
Clarissa Konzett, Austria
Letizia Lazzerini, Italy
Annette Lee, USA
Subin Lee, South Korea
Woojin Lee, South Korea
Yin Wah Natalie Lo, Hong Kong
Isabelle Low Jia En, Malaysia
Ionella Marinutsa, France

Charlotte Michels, Germany
Shamim Minoo, Iran
Renée Murphy, USA
Moe Nakata, Japan
Sakuya Ota, Japan
Joséphine Plagnol, France
Sophie Xinwei Shen, Germany
Michelle Sweegers, Netherlands
Li Shan Tan, Singapore
Nagisa Tanaka, Japan
Krissy Teng, Australia
Luna Vissers, Belgium
Zhong Ming Wan, Canada
Joost Willemze, Netherlands