DHF WORLD HARP COMPETITION Utrecht, the Netherlands
WFIMC: Please tell us about the background, history and legacy of your competition.
NEW MEMBERS
Elizabeth Jaxon: Our competition was the brainchild of artistic director Remy van Kestern, back when he was still a student at the Utrecht Conservatory, here in the Netherlands. He and several other fellow harp students produced the first edition of the competition, alongside a festival, in 2010. At the time, Remy was also very much in the competition circuit himself, and his intention with starting a new competition was to model it largely on the same format as other international harp competitions while improving on certain key aspects. Thus, from the beginning, several things made the DHF World Harp Competition stand out: we have always been independent of sponsorship from any one harp maker, which keeps us operating free from business interests; we ensure that there are both harpists and non-harpists on the jury and that no jury members are teachers of any of the competitors, to avoid bias; and we have a unique voting procedure which avoids any kind of jury discussion, which we do to ensure that each jury member gets an equal say. On top of these guidelines, the competition has always been designed with the best interest of the candidates in mind. We recognize that participating in such a competition takes a lot of investment and is essentially a gamble – only one candidate can win! We want to make sure that the experience is worth it for everybody, regardless of what prize they take home. Pairing the competition with a festival was one example of this, as it gives participants the exposure to great performers and the chance to be inspired by Elizabeth Jaxon, Competition director / DHF World Harp Competition
40
