Famed harpist to play Salt Lake recital

As ShruDeLi Ownbey tells it, she was willing to move mountains to bring Yolanda Kondonassis to Salt Lake City. But in the end, all it took was perseverance.

Kondonassis is one of today's most sought after concert and recital harpists. And Ownbey is understandably thrilled to be able to open Salt Lake City's Sixth International Harp Concert Series next week with one of the major figures in the world of harp music.

"Yolanda is a wonderful artist to open our series," Ownbey said. "It took me two years to get her. I was ready to change the series to get it to fit her schedule."

In addition to having a hectic performance calendar that takes her throughout the world, Kondonassis also maintains a busy teaching schedule at Oberlin College and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

What makes Kondonassis unequaled is her style of playing, said Ownbey, herself an accomplished harpist. "Her playing is very clean and very expressive."

For her recital Thursday, Kondonassis has chosen a varied program that extends from the baroque to a work that she commissioned. "It's a very nice program for her," Ownbey said. "One of the things that's exciting about her program is that she's doing the Handel Concerto (in B flat major), which is a piece that's studied by harp students in the area."

Also on her program is Donald Erb's Sonata, which he wrote for Kondonassis in 1995, Debussy's "Danses sacree et profane," Carlos Salzedo's "Theme and Variations in Ancient Style," and a transcription of Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata in A major, K. 208. University of Utah pianist Heather Conner will accompany Kondonassis in the Debussy.

The second recital in the series will take place on April 28 with Rachel van Voorhees, principal harpist of the Louisiana Philharmonic. She'll be playing a program of French music honoring New Orleans, Ownbey said.

The final recital won't take place until Nov. 8. It will feature the young French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, the most recent winner of the USA International Harp Competition, one of three prestigious competitions worldwide (the other two are in France and Israel.)

"The USA Competition takes place every three years in Bloomington, Ind.," Ownbey explained. "My company (Lyon and Healy) makes a special harp for each. The one they make for the USA Competition is valued at $40,000."