Elgin teen dazzles judges with the sounds of her harp
Miriam Kessler recently won first place in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory's Senior Division of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition.
The competition attracted more than 230 students from all over the country, judged by a panel of professional musicians from major orchestras and faculty of renowned universities.
The 17-year-old harpist will be performing the first movement of Reinhold Gliere's Harp Concerto with Midwest Young Artists Conservatory's Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Feb. 25. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston.
Tickets are available at mya.org/upcoming-events.
Miriam also will be featured in WFMT's "Introductions" at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 25. The live broadcast will feature an unusual two-instrument recital as Miriam is an accomplished performer on two different instruments.
On harp, she will perform Claude Debussy's Arabesque No. 1; Paul Hindemith's Harp Sonata, Mässig schnell; and Carlos Salzedo's "Variations on a Theme in the Ancient Style."
On piano, she will play Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2; William Grant Still's "Summerland" and her own composition Op. 55.