Harp competition hits Utah

Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton's favorite band is Metallica.

But don't make any assumptions. She's played the harp for nearly 16 years.

And she's the 2009 young professional division winner in the American Harp Society's National Competition at Westminster College.

As a result, Gorton takes home $2,500 and is given the American Harp Society Concert Artist status. That means she will perform at the opening ceremonies of the next AHS Harp Competition and will perform at different AHS chapters throughout the United States to enhance her solo performance experience.

Also, she's turns 23 on Friday.

"This is the ultimate birthday present," Gorton said during an interview Wednesday. "I'm floored and humbled and just in shock. I've been entering the competition since I can remember, but this is actually my sixth conference."

Competition coordinator Alison Bjorkedal said this year marks the 18th national competition.

"The competitions run every other year," she said. "And it's open to harpists from Canada, the United States, Central America and South America.

"We want to provide an environment for harpists to compete that is supportive to the harpist. It is meant to foster a sort of community. (Harpists) get to meet and hear each other play.

"And we try to set it up so it's beneficial to them."

Harpists are judged by three judges — two are harpists and one is not but is still a musician," Bjorkedal said.

The harpists receive written comments from the judges, and the competition is set up so that all the competitors receive some type of cash award.

"But we do have ties," Bjorkedal said. "So, in most cases, we give out cash prizes."

This year, the AHS, which was established in 1962, received 107 application recordings. After a screening process, 38 finalists were chosen to compete.

The finalists were separated by age in five divisions — junior, intermediate I, intermediate II, advanced and young professional.

"We don't have a minimum age — our junior division is up to 12 years, the intermediate I is up to 15, intermediate II is up to 18, advanced is up to 21 and young professional is up to 30."

The competition began on Monday and ended Wednesday. A special showcase concert highlighting the first- and second-place division winners took place Thursday.

The winners of the divisions were as follows:

Junior — Jessica Ding, 11, State College, Pa.

Intermediate I — Kinsey McNevin, 13, Littleton, Colo.

Intermediate II — Hannah Lee Blalock, 17, Matthews, N.C.

Advanced — Naomi Hoffmeyer, 21, Berkeley, Calif.

Top-prize winner Gorton hails from Pittsburgh and has a bachelor's degree in music from Juilliard. She will return to Juilliard to continue master's degree studies this fall.