Interview: Gwenllian Llyr

Yesterday, Elizabeth decided that it would be worthwhile to start a mini-interview series on the blog. We have met so many harpists here, we'd love to share them with you too! The social dynamics here are unique in that everyone comes from a different background, but shares the last two year's worth of work and experiences, albeit in a different setting and with different approaches. Also, we have noticed that our readership has expanded from our original audience of family and friends, to those of the other competitors as well as completely unrelated harpists! We thought it would be nice to give those people a connection to the other harpists here too.

For our first interview, we chose to feature Gwenllian Llyr ("Gwen" for those of us not versed in Welsh) because of her exuberance and because she conveniently happens to be our neighbor in the hotel! Also, her name is very hard to pronounce, so here is an approximation: Gwenshee-an Shee-er. Gwen, age 21, is currently doing her undergrad at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she studies with Caryl Thomas. You can visit her website, a product of a third-year school project (with some help from her dad).

What is your favorite piece on the competition?

I can't say because some of them I know better than the others. It depends if you mean what I enjoy playing, or actually if I had to listen to it twenty times.

What do you enjoy playing the most?

Definitely not Salzedo, so dodgy! I guess I enjoy playing my encore piece, which is the Fauré Une Châtelaine en sa Tour and the Ginastera. I guess in the second stage, I love the Bach, but it is so easy to mess it up... but I do love the Bach. I generally am not the biggest fan of Bach, so when I knew I had to do Bach for the competition, I though "oh no!" but when I started playing it I realized I actually love this piece!

Can you tell us how you prepared for the competition?

My first international competition was last year, the Cité des Arts. I had already learned the first movement of the Ginastera for another competition, and I already knew the Hindemith, so I learned the Bach and played that in the competition. But just doing the competition helps you understand the pressure and everything of such a big competition with important people watching you. There, the first round didn't go so well, I just took all of the pressure and put it into my playing, so it was not my best performance. But the second round went much better.

So that helped prepare you for what to expect?

Yes, just getting the judge's comments, and listening to other people of the competition, it helps you to find what you are aspiring to be. Professionalism and accuracy was what was missing from my playing. Jana Bouskova told me afterwards that you have to know that you know the notes, which was not necessarily the case at the time, so I think that helped me prepare the way I learn pieces now; I learn them better. You have to make sure that when you start learning it from the beginning, don't start playing wrong notes. Then when you play it in a concert it is more likely not to go wrong. Also, I went to Aspen this summer for ten weeks, and studied with Deborah Hoffman and Nancy Allen. That was really good because it made me practice loads. I got back before the last week of August. And then I did a few recitals at home before I came.

Is there anything you would like to share about your experience so far at the competition?

It's nice that everyone is so friendly, because in Paris I was there with my parents so I didn't meet anyone. I decided that coming here alone would be a really good idea, but also kind of scary. But everyone is so friendly, not just the Israeli people, but also the contestants. We know that there can be competition, but they are all nice. I feel like you do want everyone to do well, even though obviously you want to get as far as you can and to do your best, but you don't want someone to play badly, because you get to know them. Also, it means that if you do get to the finals, you know that you got there with everyone playing their best as well, so you know it wasn't a fluke.

What are your plans for after you finish the competition?

I have one year left. It is kind of my year of competitions. I am hoping to go the Netherlands competition, and to Bloomington. And I have my final recital, then I have to decide what I'll do next year!