... SEVEN HARP ENSEMBLE
Under the direction of Alice Giles - international harp soloist and senior lecturer at the ANU School of Music - this exciting and enchanting ensemble is committed to encouraging new repertoire as well as performing arrangements of popular classics.
Seven full-size harps, together on stage, create a strikingly dramatic vision and impressive sound. Bringing new audiences to the harp and to classical music, SHE performances to date include the Camden Haven Music Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, Campbelltown Arts Centre Edge Series, ABC Classic FM Sunday Live, ANU School of Music, Wesley Music Centre, Canberra Museum for the Multicultural Festival, National Galley of Australia, 3rd Australian Harp Festival.
An aural and visual feast, SHE concerts appeal to all music-lovers, from the casual listener to the regular concert-goer. ‘Her’ highly successful and often sold-out performances in regional areas have included Kangaroo Valley, Orange, Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Goulburn, Gunning, Bundanoon, Narrandera, Temora, Gosford, Yass and Kioloa. The ensemble was granted the honour of performing as the only Australian representatives at the American Harp Conference in San Francisco in July 2006. With the theme of the conference being ‘The Pacific Rim,’ the group played a program of newly commissioned Australian works.
The ensemble’s debut recording Bolmimerie was released in 2010 under the Tall Poppies label. It was selected as ‘CD of the week’ by ABC Classic FM in its first month of release. The recording includes new works for SHE written by Australian composers Martin Wesley-Smith, Ross Edwards, Andrew Schultz and Sharon Calcraft, as well as toe-tapping numbers from Latin America. The title track Bolmimerie is the world premiere recording of the original work for seven harp ensemble by Carlos Salzedo.
Their programs are varied, reflecting the distinctive techniques and broad palette of colours unique to the harp. An aural and visual feast, both as a ‘crowd-pleaser’ and for serious music lovers. The ensemble plays together without a conductor. Formerly known as the Kioloa Harp Ensemble, SHE was founded during the Kioloa Summer Harp Camps.
Read the SHE touring blog here...
More photos of the Seven Harp Ensemble...