Alice GilesHarpist

Alice Giles has been celebrated as one of the world’s leading harp soloists. The Australian-born musician first attracted international notice when she won First Prize in the 8th Israel International Harp Contest at the age of 21. Since then she has performed extensively internationally both in recital and with orchestras. She presented her first solo recital at the age of 13 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, was awarded the coveted Churchill International Fellowship and an Australia Council Grant to study in the USA and made her New York debut recital at Merkin Hall in 1983.

As a recipient of an Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship, she performed a solo concert at Mawson Station in February 2011 commemorating the Centenary of the first Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

Regarded by Luciano Berio as the foremost interpreter of his Sequenza II, she has taken part in tributes to Berio at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Salzburg Mozarteum, and at the 92nd Street Y in New York to honour his 70th birthday. She has given many premiere performances for her instrument, has commissioned a complete program of works for the electro-acoustic harp, and is Director of the Seven Harp Ensemble (SHE), which has commissioned many new works by Australian composers.

She was invited by Rudolf Serkin to participate for three summers in the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, USA, and has been a guest artist at numerous festival including the Schleswig-Holstein, Insel Hombroich and ‘Ja, Musik!’ Festivals in Germany, Bath Mozartfest, Scotia Festival, Salzedo Centennial in Austin Texas, World Harp Congress Copenhagen, World Harp Festival Cardiff, Edinburgh Harp Festival, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Festival, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Barossa Festival, Huntington Festival and Coriole Festival.

Concert highlights include solo recitals in London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall NY, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Toronto, and concertos with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Collegium Musicum Zürich, Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, English Symphony Orchestra, Mainzer Kammerorchester, Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Hamburg Mozart Orchestra, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra and regularly with all the major Australian Symphony and Chamber orchestras.

Alice Giles has an international reputation as a teacher, having given master classes in the Salzburg Mozarteum, The Hague Conservatorium, Royal Academy London, Cleveland Institute, Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, Conservatorio G. Verdi Milano, Parma Conservatorio, Glenn Gould School Toronto, Detmold Hochschule, R. Schumann Hochschule, at the International Youth Festival in Bayreuth and gave an annual Summer Course in Alf/Mosel, Germany 1989-1998. From 1990 to 1998 she taught at the Hochschüle für Musik in Frankfurt, is currently Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU, and from 2013 will be teaching harp at the University of Sydney, Australian National Academy of Music and Melbourne University. Her annual Summer Course is now held in Kioloa NSW. Her two main teachers were June Loney (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and Alice Chalifoux (Cleveland Orchestra), also studying with Lydia Shaxson and Judith Liber.

She is founder and director of the Harp Centre Australia, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the harp in Australia. An enthusiastic an accomplished chamber music performer, she performs regularly with Duo Corda (Harp/Piano), Australia Ensemble and in unusual combinations such as with Indian Dance. She was on the jury for both the 1998 and 2009 International Harp Contests in Israel, the 2004 USA International Harp Competition, 2007 V. Salvi European Harp Competition Cardiff and the IX Concourso Nationale d’Arpa ‘Victor Salvi’.

Her discography includes several solo harp discs, a concerto disc with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, conductor David Porcelijn, and many chamber music discs including with Duo Corda (Arnan Wiesel, piano), the Budapest Brass Quintet, Seven Harp Ensemble and Geoffrey Collins (flute), for the Tall Poppies, Musikado (Germany), ABC Classics, CDI (Israel), and Marlboro Recording Society labels.

Alice lives on a 17 hectare property in Yass NSW, with her pianist husband Arnan Wiesel and their two daughters Lara and Selena. Here she seeks a balanced life and enjoys the peace, beauty and space nature provides.

“The most intelligent, sensitive and technically accomplished harpist I have ever met.”Luciano Berio

Biography

Alice in Antarctica

A multi-media performance commemorating the Centenary of the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914

Electro-Acoustic ‘Camac Blue’ and ‘Thom’ Lever Harps, Spoken and Sung Voice, with spoken interludes taken from the unpublished Note Book & Diary of Cecil Thomas Madigan (1889-1947), AAE Meteorologist

Featuring visual and audio material gathered by Alice Giles on her 2011 trip as an Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow to Davis and Mawson Stations on the Aurora Australis

Experience an evening with one of Australia’s most respected musicians, in a personal journey through music and film to honor her grandfather Dr C.T. Madigan.

Alice is offering her show on tour Internationally in 2012 - 2014 as part of the Centenary celebrations. It can be paired with schools presentations for children of all ages, incorporating film clips and Q&A sessions about the personal dia-ries of a her grandfather, and the experience of playing the harp in the Antarctic.

Works include sentimental favorites mentioned by Madigan in his diaries and new works by Australian composers Larry Sitsky, Martin Wesley-Smith, Nigel Westlake, Jim Cotter and Joshua McHugh, as well as sounds of the wind through the harp in Antarctica, woven together with words and song into a seamless, full-length program. The show is adaptable for any size venue.

See the program and information: http://aliceinantarctica.wordpress.com

Alice’s trip to Antarctica was supported by an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship, The Australian National University School of Music, Camac Harps and Thom Harps.

Especially . . . 7 pieces for harpTALL POPPIESTP213

Harp Concertos: Ginastera – Jolivet – GlièreABC CLASSICS476 3528

SalzedoTALL POPPIES TP137

Enchanted Dreams…exotic dances (flute & harp)T TP031

Song in the Night: Concert Fantasies, arrangements & original works for harp by Carlos Salzedo ABC Classics ABC 476 5250

Discography

Solo Harp: Fauré/Debussy/Tournier/SalzedoKOCH/AULOS 310179/G1

Carlos Salzedo: Works for Solo HarpKOCH3 1223 2

Works for Harp and Piano: Salzedo/Eakin/Ichiyanagi/Migot/Koch/Turina/Zagwijn, with Arnan Wiesel, PianoKOCH/AULOS 3 1765 2

Brass Quintet & Harp: Koetsier/Brown/Schmidt, with the Budapest Brass QuintetKOCH 3 1173 2

Ravel Songs, with Sanford SylvanMARLBORO RECORDING SOCIETY MRS 16

Icarus: Music by Andrew FordTALL POPPIES TP150

Anne Boyd: Crossing a Field of DreamsTALL POPPIES TP127

Chamber Music by Ravel/Debussy/CapletCDI Fine Art collection

Kunstpfeifen: Werner, with Paul WißkirchenTMK 4104

Musik für die Welt von Morgen I: Peggy Glanville-Hicks SonataCHA 3020

Musik für die Welt von Morgen 2: Anne Le Baron - Solar Music and Gillian Whitehead - Toccata for HarpCHA 3023

Suggested Programs

The Three Harps ConcertFeaturing: Louis XVI Single action Harp / ‘Salzedo’ model Lyon & Healy Harp / Camac Big Blue electro-acoustic HarpOn stage, 3 instruments from different eras, one harpist.Each harp perfect in its own right, with their own very individual beauty and quality, they express a colour world appropriate to their era. Experience a musical journey in time.

Concert Programplease see website for full details: www.alicegiles.com

Concerto RepertoireL. BERIO Chemin IIB. CONYNGHAM Cloudlines – Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (optionalarr. for Chamber Orch by the composer) (1990)C. DEBUSSY Danses Sacré et ProfaneD. EBERHARD Dreamlines (electro-acoustic harp)A. GINASTERA ConcertoR. GLIÉRE Concerto Op. 74G. F. HANDEL Concerto Bb maj. Op. 4 No. 6*H. W. HENZE Doppio Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Strings (1966)A. JOLIVET ConcertoH. MCDONALD Suite “From Childhood” for Harp and OrchestraF. MARTIN Petite Symphonie Concertante for Hp/Piano/Hpschd/StringsW. A. MOZART Concerto C maj. for Flute & Harp K299*B. RANDS AumJ. RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez (transcribed for harp by N. Zabaleta)C. SALZEDO Concerto for Harp and 7 WindsL. SPOHR Concertante for Harp, Violin and Orchestra (G maj.)*H. VILLA-LOBOS ConcertoM. RAVEL Introduction and Allegro (version with string orchestra)* Concertos using the Single-action 1790s-reproduction harp

Alice in AntarcticaCommemorating the Centenary of the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914Electro-Acoustic ‘Camac Blue’ and ‘Thom’ Lever Harps, Spoken and Sung Voice

Indian Dance and Harp‘Sangam’ – a Program for Dance and Harp‘Sangam’ – the Sanskrit word for ‘confluence’Two art forms, Indian Classical Dance and Western Art Music, find a common meeting place and flow togetherWith Padma Menon, Indian Classical Dance / Alice Giles, Electro-acoustic Harp

Chamber MusicDuo Partners in Australia: - ‘Duo Corda’ Piano and Harp with Arnan Wiesel - Flute and Harp with Geoffrey Collins- Cello and Harp with David Pereira

Duo Partners in Europe: - Violin and Harp with Jenny Abel (Germany)

Larger ensemble programs:- String Quartet / Brass Quintet / Oboe & Viola / Flute & Viola- Seven Harp Ensemble (SHE) concert program combining new Australian pieces (Wesley-Smith, Schultz, Stisky, Edwards) and popular repertoire http://www.harpcentre.com.au/seven-harp-ensemble/

Alice Gileswww.alicegiles.com

Representation:

Rachel WalkerHarp Centre Australia

rachel@harpcentre.com.auwww.harpcentre.com.au+61 430 101 002

“The harpist, Alice Giles, presented an exciting solo concert. Miss Giles has a fluent technique and a prismatic sense of tonal color and shows a keen awareness of musical structure, never allowing

her interpretations to disintegrate into cosmetic prettiness.”Tim Page, New York Times

“Alice Giles breezes through her program with deceptive ease. She is artistically and temperamentally equal to the demands of the music.”

American Record Guide

“She played the harp as I have never heard it played before. The tenderness, the lyricism were there certainly, but there was much much more. We heard rich, almost orchestral sonorities. This is one recital I shall not soon forget.”

Ida Holmes-Moss, The Advertiser (U. K.)

“The harp recital by Alice Giles was gold-medal playing. Musicianship like this is to be treasured, whatever the instrument. Technical brilliance was the starting point: rhythmic discipline, control of rubato where appropriate, balancing of phrases, pedal authority–all these could be taken for granted. The wealth of expression was ideally managed. She can be a Paganini of the harp. Equally she can turn into a musical poet, or into a pure classicist.”

Fred Blanks, Sydney Morning Herald

“She is not only a harpist of virtuoso rank, but also a thorough musician. She gave the instrument breadth as well as delicacy, and both tonal and emotional variety.”

Dora Snowdon, The Jerusalem Post