Press Coverage

on the Harpsichord Academy, Competition
and Concert Series

To hear a conversation with Kenneth Slowik and WETA's Marilyn Cooley discussing the harpsichord concerts, academy and competition: Click Here

For the IONARTS article: Semifinalists are announced Click Here

For the IONARTS article on Mitzi Meyerson's concert at the Smithsonian: Click Here

For the Washington Post article on Arthur Haas's concert at the Smithsonian: Click Here

For the Washington Post article about the harpsichord competition: Click Here

For the the Washington Post article on Davitt Moroney's concert at the Smithsonian: Click Here

For the IONARTS article on Mitzi Meyerson's concert at the Smithsonian: Click Here

For IONARTS article on Davitt Moroney's concert at the Smithsonian Click Here

The Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and the University of Maryland School of Music have partnered with the Westfield Center (www.westfield.org) to present the Westfield Center International Harpsichord Academy and Competition. Smithsonian Chamber Music Society Executive Director James Weaver is the President of these events.

The Academy, which will take place 6-11 August and be led by Professor Mitzi Meyerson of Berlin's Akademie der Künste, seeks to offer harpsichordists a deeper understanding and more profound realization of the core 16th- to 18th-century solo repertoire through the avenue of instruments, sources, and performance practices familiar to the composers of the period. Held at the University of Maryland/College Park's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the Academy will also feature a special "field trip" to the Smithsonian collection, where Academy participants will be given the rare opportunity to try several antique harpsichords. Registration for the Academy has officially closed, but one or two spots may still remain. For further information, please contact the Westfield Center directly.

The International Competition will bring together twenty-three fine performers, all under the age of thirty-five, from the United States, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The Jury consists of Arthur Haas (SUNY Stony Brook), Charlotte Mattax Moersch (University of Illinois), Davitt Moroney (University of California, Berkeley), Christine Schornsheim (Hochschüle für Musik und Theater, Munich), and SCMS Artistic Director Kenneth Slowik (University of Maryland). The Competition, held in the University of Maryland's Guildenhorn Recital Hall in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, will unfold in three rounds, all of which are free and open to the public. All of the contestants will perform in the first round, which will run from Monday through Wednesday, 13-15 August. Ten will advance to the second round, to be held Thursday 16 August. Five finalists will compete on Saturday 18 August, with announcement of the prize winners (first prize: $7,500; second prize: $3,500; third prize: $2,500) at the conclusion of the day's performances. For more information on the repertoire requirements, which range from works of William Byrd and Giles Farnaby to sonatas of CPE Bach and Haydn, and on the schedule of events, visit www.westfield.org.

Professors Meyerson, Mattax Moersch, Haas, and Moroney will each be featured in a recital using instruments from the Smithsonian's exceptional harpsichord collection. The recitals, held on the weekends bracketing the Academy, are free ticketed events. For more information, see the companion news story on this website's homepage.