Triennial Harp Competition announces first-place winner

Twenty-year-old Emmanuel Ceysson didn't have much time to celebrate winning first prize at the sixth triennial USA International Harp Competition, an 11-day event that completed its final stage at IU Auditorium Sunday night. Ceysson, who hails from France, was back at it the next morning, practicing for a concert in Indianapolis Monday night.\n"I don't want to mess it up," Ceysson said, referring to the Indianapolis performance. "I will have time to celebrate it in France when I go back, but now I have to focus on the recital."\nStanding next to the coveted $55,000 golden harp awarded for first prize, Ceysson found a little time to relax and relish the victory after looking exhausted immediately after the competition the night before. \n"I feel great. I realize it now," Ceysson said. "It will be so great for my career," \nIn addition to receiving the golden harp, Ceysson also won a recording contract with Egan Records and debut recitals in New York and London.\nCeysson beat out 44 other top harpists aged 16 to 32 from 17 countries in what was the largest harp competition in the world. \nAt the final stage of the competition, Ceysson and the two other finalists, second-place winner, 25-year-old Julie Smith of the United States, and third-place winner, 21-year-old Lavinia Meijer of the Netherlands, played along with the IU Festival Orchestra. Smith won third place at the 2001 competition. All three finalists played as soloists Monday night in the Laureats concert in Indianapolis. \nCeysson said all the finalists played well, and it was up to the eight-member jury to decide whom they liked best.\n"I wasn't expecting first prize. I was just waiting to see what the jury would say," Ceysson said. "In some competitions, the jury can have very different advice. I don't know if I had a different jury, if I would have been first."\nAlthough Ceysson was excited about winning the competition, he said results are not as important as taking pleasure on stage.\n"The result is not so important to me. The important thing is to do my best, to serve the music I play." Ceysson said. "I'm here to make music. Then the results will come."\nReflecting the general trend in harp playing, Ceysson was one of only five male contestants in the competition. Of those five men, three were from France. Ceysson said he thinks more men play harp in France because of its history of outstanding male harpists, including the 1998 winner of the USA IHC Xavier De Maistre. Ceysson can now add himself to that list of outstanding male harpists.\nAnother Frenchman who impressed the judges was Nikolaz Cadoret, who placed seventh in the competition. IU graduate student Fan Fen Tai, who was among 24 competitors to qualify for the second stage, raved about Cadoret's performances.\n"I was really impressed with Nikolaz's interpretations," Tai said. "I really liked his playing in certain pieces, like modern pieces and strong character pieces. He did so well."\nThis year's competition saw no IU students or graduates among the 12 semifinalists. Having one of the world's strongest harp programs, IU has had multiple prizewinners in past competitions, including the top two finishers in 2001, Dan Yu and Maria Luísa Rayán, respectively.\n"This was an incredibly tough competition," said Moya Wright, executive director of this year's harp competition. "I would have loved to have seen more IU students represented, but there's always next time." \nThe Seventh USA International Harp Competition takes place in 2007 when the world's top young harpists will once again descend on IU.\n-- Contact staff writer Steven Chung at stchung@indiana.edu