The Harp Department at Eastman School of Music is pleased to host a three-day residency with international harpists Catherine Michel and Andrew Chan from March 28-30, 2024. These distinguished artists come to Rochester from Paris, France and Toronto, Canada respectively. This residency, solely focused on the harp, is the first of its kind at Eastman. All events are free, and the public is invited to attend.
On Thursday, March 28, Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership will present a class led by Chan in Messinger 1 (10 Gibbs Street) at 12:35 p.m. Titled Succeed in the New World, Chan describes the session as “an interactive discussion about the challenges and opportunities that diversity offers musicians of the 21st century.”
During the following evening, on Friday, March 29, Michel will lead a masterclass at 6:30 p.m. in Eastman’s newly renovated Howard Hanson Hall. Eastman students will have the opportunity to play for and garner feedback from the award-winning harpist.
The artists will culminate with a performance in Hatch Recital Hall at 2:30 p.m on Saturday, March 30. Kathleen Bride, Professor of Harp, excitedly shares that this concert is “an event not to be missed.” She elaborates: “The concert, titled From Versailles to Hollywood, is filled with wonderful music for one and two harps, accompanied by a string quartet of Eastman students. It is a beautiful way to spend a Saturday afternoon.” This special performance will be followed by a reception at Betty’s Café, outside Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Those in attendance will also have the opportunity to view a 1785 Cousineau harp. This rare Parisian instrument, graciously on loan from Paul Knoke, a local harpist/collector, will be displayed on the Hatch Recital Hall stage for the first half of the concert, and will then be moved to the area opposite Betty’s Café during the reception from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Seating in Hatch Recital Hall is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. For those who are unable to make it in person, the concert on March 30 will be livestreamed here.
Learn more about studying Harp at Eastman by visiting us online. To view all upcoming events at Eastman, our Events Calendar includes the most up-to-date information.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Catherine Michel:
Michel was born in Amiens, where she studied the harp, piano and music theory with her mother. After her mother’s untimely passing, Pierre Jamet took the young girl under his wing and she entered the National Conservatoire for Dance and Music (CNSM) in Paris, where she was awarded a First Prize diploma at the age of 15. She won two major international awards, in Israel and the United States, as well as a Gold Medal at the Paris Competition. She joined the Radio France National Orchestra in 1971, performing under the conductors L. Maazel, P. Paray, J. Martinon, K. Böhm, S. Celibidache, L. Bernstein, M. Rostropovitch, to name but a few. In 1978 she became a harpist with the Paris Opera.
Her first recordings for the Philips and Vox labels introduced listeners to seldom-performed concertos. She recorded concertos by Villa Lobos, Rodrigo and Castelnuovo-Tedesco with the Monte Carlo Orchestra; as well as Glière, Reinecke, Pierné and Saint-Saëns with the Radio Luxembourg Orchestra. She worked together with François Lesur to create a repertoire of harp music published in the 18th century. It was with Leonard Bernstein that the idea came up, in 1990, of adapting major musical comedies for harp and orchestra. After this unique musician passed away, she got together with M. Legrand to record her first album of film music, winning the French Victoires de la Musique award in the same year. Together they recorded four CDs for the Naïve and Universal labels. Over at EMI she accompanied the leading trumpet player Maurice André, performing a variety of works, ranging from Bach to Steven Sondheim, with the Normandy Chamber Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Her teaching duties took her to Dublin, to the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, then in Detmold followed by the one in Zurich, which she left in 2010 to focus on her career as a soloist and visiting professor.
About Andrew Chan:
Applauded by the National Post as “a rare charisma,” Canadian harpist Andrew Chan has performed across Canada, the USA and in Asia as a solo, concerto, orchestral and chamber musician. For nine seasons, he performed successfully as Principal Harp for the Toronto Concert Orchestra under the baton of the late Kerry Stratton, who repeatedly featured him as a soloist performing concertos by Debussy (2014, 2018), Handel (2013, 2018), Mozart (2017 tour) and Ravel (2014). He currently performs as Principal Harp with the National Broadcasting Orchestra, and also has performed with the Brantford Symphony Orchestra since 2008.
Chan is the Artistic Director of the Harps on the Hill School in Markham, a specialized harp school that is populated by students of all ages, and he teaches at his private studio in Toronto. Countless of Chan’s students have been winners of various awards, scholarships and auditions.
Enthusiastic to expand the harp’s repertoire, Chan works with composers closely, premiering and advocating new Canadian works. He was invited to present Canadian music in front of an international audience in Hong Kong, premiering “Three Dances for Ocyrrhoe” by Constantine Caravassilis. Also written for Chan, Caravassilis’ “Illuminatum” for Two Harps and Men’s Chorus was premiered in 2012 at the Harps on the Hill Festival with harpist Erica Goodman. Chan performs on the “Salvi Signature” harp, a one-of-a-kind model made of 23-karat gold and precious Ziricote wood. It was the last masterpiece left behind by the late renowned Victor Salvi of Italy after 60 years of harp-making. His collection of harps includes a rare, historical, and well-preserved Erard, built in Paris for the Belgium International Expo in 1905. Chan resides in Toronto. Visit his website to learn more.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854–1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.