Video Round

Candidates are listed below in performance order, determined by a randomized draw.

Anna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. In 2009 she enrolled to harp lessons in Brussels for 1.5 years. She continued studying on her own and attending to different harp workshops with harpists such as W Stewart, JM Ribelles, R Romaní, A Savall. With her group Formiga and Cigale, Anna took part at the Rencontres IH in Dinan and at Noia Harp Fest. She returned to this festival in 2022 to present a first stage of her own solo project, based on Catalan traditional music. In 2025 she released her solo album: Sang de Dona, 28th at the WMCE August ranking. She plays in diversity and unique spaces around Europe. In 2024 she was awarded with the composition price SGAE-Cases Música.

Sang de Dona (from Catalan, “Women’s Blood”)

Anna has been digging deep into the Catalan folk song book to present ‘Sang de Dona’: themes of women’s empowerment, matrilineality and women’s daily trials and tribulations. She masterfully transforms the traditional, repetitive songs into modern, gripping story telling full of emotion, drama and excitement. Musically, both Anna’s clear voice and unconventional way of playing the harp, sometimes calm and melodic, other times tumultuous or apotheotic, reinforce the story lines and charge the songs with emotion. The created atmospheres are emphasized even more by using diverse techniques on the harp, bringing these resilient female protagonists to life and empowering them.

Livia grew up in central France. Inspired by Seckou Keita’s kora, she began playing the harp around the age of 8. She then followed her instrument to Paris, exploring classical, jazz, and contemporary repertoires, while also opening doors to the performing arts, storytelling, and clowning. She created the Catguts Company to combine these passions in original creations.
At the tip of Brittany, she met Nikolaz Cadoret, who introduced her to the joy of traditional music. In 2022, Livia won the Camac Trophy at the Interceltic Festival of Lorient. Today, she uses her harp to express the fire that burns within her, but without getting burned.

The Red Shoes

For the World Harp Competition, I would like to present excerpts from cruel tales in a solo piece for harp and other “sensitive strings”. I will tell a traditional story, “The Red Shoes”, with contemporary resonance, accompanied by my Celtic harp, a few effects pedals, and other surprising objects. My compositions blend jazz, traditional dance, and extended techniques. I also use my voice, sometimes narrating, sometimes singing, sometimes shouting or whispering.

Principal harpist of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (AL), Anna Dunlap feels equally at home in the orchestra as she does performing contemporary music. She has performed as a substitute harpist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. As a founding member of the New Downbeat collective, Anna regularly performs chamber music and solo pieces written by up-and-coming composers. A recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music with her DMA, Anna’s primary teachers include Dr. Gillian Benet Sella and Professor Kathleen Bride of the Eastman School of Music.

Out of Darkness, Into Light

Take a moment during this program to reflect on how to look for the light in dark and difficult times. Each piece explores themes of hope, comfort, and courage to guide the listener’s experience.
Let’s seek inspiration from Kheiron by facing “fears and wounds…to make light shine.”
Let’s seek out our inconvenient wounds for these provide opportunities to find “threads of hope.”
And let’s recognize it does us “good to do what is difficult,” as stated by Van Gogh, the inspiration for and then at night I paint the stars…
Searching for hope may initially feel futile. Yet as we learn to find light, may it be easier and more scintillating to notice, facing each hard moment with hope and love.

Cara Dawson is a harpist working at the intersection of contemporary composition, experimental sound, and embodied performance. Her solo practice spans pedal and lever harp, electronics, and alternative tuning, uncovering the instrument’s hidden resonances and tactile possibilities. She is in constant demand as an orchestral musician and has performed with ensembles including the London Sinfonietta and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. Cara is co-founder of two ensembles driving innovative performance: red panel, creating concert formats that blend ambient and classical traditions, and Ensemble Utak (flute/harp/viola), dedicated to illuminating 20th- and 21st-century repertoire.

The Space Between

This program explores the harp through microtonality and alternative tuning systems, expanding the instrument’s expressive range. Friederike Horz’s work uses quarter-tones on a specially prepared lever harp, while Kevin Kay’s Just Intonation piece features me performing on two harps simultaneously, revealing contrasting resonant systems. Alongside new works employing scordatura and reimagined tuning, the program highlights both innovation and continuity, connecting long-standing tuning ideas with contemporary experimentation. By stepping outside equal temperament, the harp becomes a landscape for listening, offering audiences fresh perspectives on harmony, resonance, and tradition.

Léna Jallon began her studies with a master’s degree in sound engineering at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. After that, she moved to Lucerne in Switzerland to devote herself to the harp and study with Anne Bassand, with whom she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in orchestral performance. Attracted by novelty and interested in contemporary music, she enjoys collaborating with composers on the creation of new pieces. Léna is particularly interested in electroacoustic music, which allows her to combine her skills as a harpist and sound engineer. She regularly collaborates with composer Capucine Seuret. Léna receives support from the Rahn Foundation.

Deep Inside

Deep Inside is a musical project born out of my desire to combine my harp skills with the world of electronic sound creation. This piece for solo harp and live electronics is the result of a collaboration with the composer Capucine Seuret. Deep Inside is an introspective exploration, an emotional narrative in three different parts. Each of these three soundscapes invites sensory, introspective and meditative listening. This piece also offers a journey into the heart of sound: the electronic part is composed of both pre-recorded tracks and live processing on the harp. These two elements are mixed and broadcast on speakers placed around the audience, creating a feeling of full immersion.

Grace Rooney has studied harp for 10 years, developing versatility in classical, alternative, Latin, and jazz music. She began training in the American Youth Harp Ensemble and later graduated from the UNCSA high school harp program. She is pursuing her bachelor’s at Berklee College of Music, exploring diverse styles and improvisation. Grace has performed at The National Cathedral and Biltmore Mansion, and recorded at Abbey Road Studios with former royal harpist Claire Jones and her ensemble. While studying at Berklee, she also teaches harp full time at Noteworthy Studios in Sudbury, MA. With a strong foundation in traditional harp, Grace aims to bring the harp into every space and genre.

Fairy Tales: The Strings That Tie Us Together

Every culture passes down stories, fairytales being the most universal. While varying in interpretation, everyone derives the same lessons and feelings from these stories. They evoke hope in us, showing that there are good endings and good people in the world, and that we can triumph over tragedy. My program will consist of songs based on fairytales from all genres. I plan to incorporate nostalgic classics while experimenting with more modern genres such as hyperpop. I hope to use harp as a way to reinterpret these stories and bring my own meaning to the audience, connecting us all in the process.

Francesca Campo, harpist and music researcher, blends tradition and innovation, carrying a deep cultural heritage rooted in Sicily. Born in Pavia and raised in Verona by Sicilian parents, she studied harp at the conservatories of Verona and Turin, earning a Master at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Ernestine Stoop and Sylvain Blasel. Her research explores Southern Italian music, focusing on Sicily’s cultural and historical heritage. Through projects like Eco dal Popolo, Francesca gives voice to forgotten stories, connecting past and present, North and South, and sharing Sicilian music with audiences worldwide, creating bridges between memory, identity, and the future.

Eco dal Popolo

This program aims to share the identity of Southern Italy with the world through music. It revives a forgotten Southern Italian harp tradition, bringing composers like Francesco Bellotta back to light and presenting romantic works from Neapolitan and Sicilian repertoire inspired by folk melodies and opera themes. At its core stands Sikelia, a newly commissioned work developed during my research. Written by three composers for harp and diverse ensembles, it reflects the richness of Sicilian culture through their vision and my own.

Zoe Vandermeer is a Welsh triple and Celtic harpist, singer and composer. She specializes in baroque and classical music and her own compositions. A prize-winning graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she is a PhD candidate in Research in Performance Practice at the University of Birmingham UK, and is on the Roster of the CT Commission on Culture and Tourism. Her compositions have won prizes, received commissions and premieres in the US & UK. Zoe was a WHC 2024 Quarter-Finalist. Performances include: Rio Int’l Harp Fest. Brazil, CT Early Music Fest., Bloomington Early Music Fest., Int’l Fest. de Deia Spain, American Harp Society, Glasgow Early Music Fest., etc. & recordings.

Musical Portraits of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Soprano and harpist Zoe Vandermeer, shares the versatility of the Welsh triple harp in her program ‘Musical Portraits of the 18th and 19th Centuries’, performing composers’ compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions for the harp, as well as the harp as an accompanying instrument for the voice. Composers and composers/harpists represented, hail from London, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, including Handel, Haydn, Sophia Corri, Edward Jones, T.P. Chipp, Sir Jules Benedict, Thomas Moore, and others. The hidden stories of their lives and the harp are revealed through a tapestry of tonal beauty, tales, and anecdotes of prowess, dedication, curiosity, and delight.

Cristy De la Rosa, harpist from Xalapa, Veracruz. At 14, she debuted as soloist with the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra. Since 2015, she has performed across Mexico and Latin America, with her works played by harpists worldwide. She appeared at Carnegie Hall in 2017 and 2019 through American Protégé. Holding a Master’s in Artistic Production and Cultural Marketing, she founded a civil association for harpists. Her projects include two books of her compositions, the album Arpa Mía, and the Suite for Jarocho Harp and Orchestra, aiming to place this instrument in Mexico’s concert tradition.

The Jarocho Harp of Veracruz

The Jarocho Harp of Veracruz is an immersive concert that celebrates Mexico’s musical heritage through Cristy De la Rosa. Rooted in the tradition of son jarocho—a blend of Indigenous, Spanish, and African influences—the Jarocho Harp stands at the heart of Veracruz’s identity, both melodic and percussive. This concert presents traditional music and Cristy’s compositions, weaving history, culture, and personal reflection into a unique experience. The music is highlighted with visuals and storytelling, offering audiences a journey into the soul of Veracruz and the enduring legacy of the Jarocho Harp.

Erendira Morales is a Mexican harpist and composer. She began her musical studies in classical music at the School of Initiation to Music and Dance in Mexico City at the age of seven. Her music education was multifaceted, playing traditional Mexican Instruments and Latin American music. Her approach to classical music led her to choose the harp as her main instrument at the age of 10 years old. In March 2020, she participated in the award ceremony of the international competition “Golden Classical Music Awards” at Carnegie Hall, in New York. In November of the same year she debuted as a soloist.
She moved to the Netherlands in 2023 and began her studies at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.

Raices (Roots)

Our roots, our culture, and the music we grow up with are an important part of who we are, and how we identify ourselves. I am Mexican, and one of the most important musical influences in my life was the various Mexican musical genres, I loved the folk harp from the first time I heard it, which eventually led me to the path of being a full-time musician.
After a long time of focusing on the study of Western music while living abroad, trying to find a cure to my homesickness, and as a way to remember the music I first fell in love with, I created a jazz-fusion project, in which I present various Mexican rhythms and genres, thus creating a new and personal vision of this music.

Hailing from the Beara Peninsula in the South West of Ireland, Tara Viscardi performs on baroque, traditional Irish and classical harps. Praised for her music being ‘exquisitely performed’ (The Times), Tara is Associate Artist with the Irish Baroque Orchestra for 2025, having been a 2024 UK Harp Association Emerging Artist and first prize winner of the 2021 London Camac Harp Competition. She has featured on BBC and RTÉ radio and performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, the Irish Embassy, No. 10 Downing Street, Canterbury Cathedral, Shakespeare’s Globe, Dublin Castle and the National Concert Hall, Dublin. She launched her debut album Beara in 2024.

Women of the Waters

This programme will explore my original compositions for the Irish traditional harp, sometimes accompanied by voice, inspired by my homeplace of the Beara Peninsula, alongside baroque music by Venetian female composers Barbara
Strozzi and Anna Bon di Venezia, which I have arranged for the Italian triple harp. The Beara Peninsula is surrounded by the wild Atlantic Ocean, with the rugged landscape and local folklore, such as that of the legend of Princess Beara, being a huge influence on my work. The unique setting of Venice, also surrounded by water in a lagoon on the Adriatic Sea, would have inspired Strozzi and Bon, and it is a privilege to explore and give new voice to the work of these incredible composers on the Italian baroque triple harp.

Klara Poznachowska is a versatile Polish harpist and composer whose work spans world music, classical, contemporary, and jazz genres. She began her musical journey under Professor Alina Baranowska and performed at festivals across Europe. In 2020, she received a full-tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she studied and performed with artists like Billy Childs and Joe Lovano. At Berklee, she co-founded the Klemer Trio, blending Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and jazz traditions. After earning her Master’s in June 2025, Klara began performing original music and is going to be the first Polish harpist to present her work at the World Harp Festival in Paraguay this October.

Many languages of Harp

Jazz has always evolved through openness, absorbing harmony from classical music, rhythm from global traditions, and storytelling from folk cultures around the world. These shared elements form a flexible musical language that connects diverse traditions while preserving jazz’s core identity. My program explores how this language enables the harp to move beyond conventional roles and enter new cultural spaces through original compositions and arrangements shaped by global dialogue. Drawing on improvisation, narrative, extended techniques, and cross-cultural influence, the project highlights the harp as a contemporary voice within jazz’s ongoing evolution.

Gabriella Jones, 4th prize-winner at the 2023 Hong Kong International Harp Competition and former Park Lane Group Young Artist, made her solo debut at Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre. A former student of Gabriella Dall’Olio at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, she gave sold-out performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Westminster Abbey while completing her Master’s studies. Committed to contemporary repertoire and amplifying underrepresented voices, she has premiered works by Judith Weir and Deborah Pritchard. Current projects include collaborations with visual artists, dancers, a reconceptualisation of Stockhausen’s Freude, and a digital reimagining of Benjamin Rimmer’s Rise.

[UN]Love

[UN]Love is a 45-minute performance placing the harp at the centre of a dialogue between dance, film, and movement. With contemporary ballet dancer Alice Oakley Jones, we will explore the body of the harpist as choreography: gestures mirrored, distorted, and interrupted; sign language woven into rhythm; and physical theatre in direct response to sound. Inspired by female composers, this work reclaims the female narrative of love, challenging traditions shaped by male voices and inviting audiences into a performance that is intimate, defiant, and an opportunity to experience love in its most fragile, unsettling, and transformative forms.