The Norwegian harpist Uno Vesje (Oslo, 1989) became the winner of the World Harp Competition 2021. The final, presented by Eric Corton, took place online on 16th May at TivoliVredenburg.
Uno Vesje won the main prize of € 5,000 and the Care, Coaching & Career program, the coaching trajectory with which the DHF wants to support the young harpist in his career. The second prize and audience prize went to the Dutch Romy Wymer.
The final of the World Harp Competition was the final event of the online edition of the Dutch Harp Festival 2021. The jury, chaired by saxophonist Ties Mellema and accompanied by Anke Klein, alderman of Utrecht culture, awarded the first prize online to Uno Vesje. “We were touched and mesmerized by his music, the composition and the performance. Uno has clear musical drive in his playing that we could not escape from. The musical equivalent of a page-turner,” said the jury. The second prize and audience prize went to the Dutch Romy Wymer, according to the jury “a truthful musician that plays from the heart”. The American harpist Grace Roepke and her Australian colleague Tara Minton received the third and fourth prize respectively.
The jury consisted of Stephan Fitzpatrick (UK), Corrina Hewat (UK), Gavriël Lipkind (Israel), Caroline Lizotte (Canada), Claron McFadden (US / NL) and Jeroen van Vliet (NL).
