History of the Harp Festival of Philadelphia
by Saul Davis Zlatkovski
The
Harp Festival of Philadelphia began as a long-held dream, an ideal of
the great harpist and teacher, Lucile Lawrence. She disdained the
competitive, inartistic atmosphere of competitions, and the
sometimes-disappointing results. She felt that the only way to properly
present a harpist was to give him or her an opportunity to perform in
recital, in a suitable venue, in a program of his or her own choosing,
not one pre-determined by a committee. As a faithful student, this
ideal made an impression on me, as dream of great beauty.
When
she passed on at the age of ninety-seven, the only fitting tribute to
her seemed to be a harp recital. However, I was not her only student
living in the Philadelphia area. In fact, there were at least six of
us. When Virginia Flanagan offered to also contribute a recital
program, it dawned upon me that this was a festival! We were able to
put together three concerts, master classes and events to complete a
full, three-day weekend in 2007, honoring the memory of Lucile
Lawrence. We were harbored and fostered by the Music Committe of the
Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, led by Madelyn
Mignatti, who secured for us the sponsorship of the church. We
performed there for two years in succession.
We formed a
nonprofit organization, Performing Arts Traditions, to present the
festival and other events that support the classical traditions in the
arts. Saul Davis Zlatkovski is the volunteer Artistic and Executive
Director, and Virginia Flanagan is the Associate Artistic Director. We
found a fiscal sponsor in the Urban Affairs Coalition, who has
generously supported our efforts over the years, and I think they were
both surprised and pleased with our success. The festival has operated
solely in the “black,” never at a loss. Each year’s income has
supported the next year’s programs. And we are deeply grateful to our
audiences, sponsors and donors for making that possible. We are
convinced that Philadelphia is the perfect place for the festival, as
it is a city devoted to classical music, perhaps more so than any other
in the country. As Carlos Salzedo once wrote, “The harp is to music as
music is to life,” so we might paraphrase that and say, “The harp is to
music as music is to Philadelphia.”
Our second festival in
2008 paid tribute to another great lady of the harp, Alice Chalifoux,
who lived to be a mere 100 years old. This time, some of her students
joined us to pay tribute. Our third festival, in 2009, did not have a
specific theme other than great harp music.
Our fourth
festival, coming in 2010, is grander in scope. We are saluting three
significant anniversaries, the 250th birthday of Luigi Cherubini, the
200th of Robert Schumann, and the 125th of Carlos Salzedo. We have
expanded to a mere five-day schedule, taking place over Columbus Day
Weekend in October of 2010.
The Harp Festival of Philadelphia
has flourished by the hard work of a volunteer staff and the
volunteered contributions of our many distinguished artists. Harpists
have come to us from as far as St. Petersburg, Russia; Texas and
California; and braved small-jet flights through storms from rural
Michigan to join us. Speaking of storms, we had to move the festival
from Memorial Day Weekend, because each time we gave our concerts, we
caused major thunderstorms to erupt in the middle of our concerts. We
hope that Columbus Day Weekend will be a little drier.