Yolanda Kondonassis
Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis is one of the world's most famous players of her instrument. She performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral harpist, and she is also an author and educator.
Kondonassis was born in 1963 in Norman, Oklahoma. She turned to music early, starting piano at the age of three. This was a matter of family talent coming down to her; Yolanda's mother was also a pianist and carefully watched her development. On a trip to Chicago at the age of nine, Yolanda saw the window display of the Lyon & Healy music store, one of the world's leading manufacturers of harps. The loveliness of the display appealed to her, and she asked for harp lessons as well. She did not give up the piano but studied both instruments through high school. She says the piano was "neck and neck" with the harp as her ultimate choice. The decision was made by several factors. One was that she had a facility for developing the particular muscles that are used in harp playing (and virtually nothing else). Another was that she loved the sensation of creating the music directly by her fingers on the strings, feeling that she could contribute more as a harpist. At age 14, she began boarding at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Her higher education was at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she obtained both her bachelor's and master's degrees. Her teacher there was Alice Chalifoux.
A competition win gained Kondonassis a young artists' debut prize as a soloist with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. She obtained regular employment as an orchestral harpist (holding this position with the Cleveland Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony, among others). In 1987, she won the top prize in the Affiliate Artists National Auditions, which enabled her to tour for five years. She developed a type of program she called "informances," where she plays music, makes light commentary, and also interacts with the audience.
Kondonassis plays all the regular harp repertory, recording much of it. Her Sky Music CD was one of the Ten Best Classical CDs of 1996 in the estimation of the New York Daily News. Her recording of the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra was released in 1997. She has recorded major 20th century works featuring the harp by Salzedo, Ginastera, Miyagi, and Hovhaness. She has also made transcriptions (including one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons), commissioned new works, and has begun to compose in her own right. Among the composers who have written music for her are George Rochberg and Donald Erb. She is interested in contradicting the stereotyped idea of the harp as an "angelic," "heavenly," or "impressionistic" instrument; one of the movements of the sonata Erb wrote for her is called "Dirty Rotten Scherzo."
In the 21st century, Kondonassis has, to a greater degree than most other players, attempted to communicate both with contemporary music aficionados and with crossover audiences. A series of releases on the Telarc label featured such titles as Music for a Perfect Day (2002) and Breathe: The Relaxing Harp (2006), but the same label issued Never Far Away: Music of Bright Sheng, featuring music by that Chinese-born Midwestern American composer. In the 2010s, Kondonassis has recorded mostly for the innovative label Azica, as well as a label associated with Oberlin College. In 2016, she issued Ginastera: One Hundred, an album commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Alberto Ginastera, featuring his Harp Concerto, Op. 25. In 2019, she won a Grammy Award for her performance on the Azica album American Rapture.
Kondonassis has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Oberlin College Conservatory. She is married to Cleveland Orchestra principal trumpeter Michael Sachs (they have one daughter) and is the author of several books, including On Playing the Harp, a Comprehensive Guide to Harp Technique, and children's book Our House Is Round: A Kid's Book About Why Protecting the Earth Matters. She has been featured, among other venues beyond the traditional classical orbit, on one of the "Tiny Desk Concerts" presented by NPR.
© Joseph Stevenson & James Manheim /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
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Ginastera: One Hundred
Yolanda Kondonassis, Gil Shaham, Jason Vieaux, Oberlin Orchestra, Orli Shaham, Raphael Jimenez
Classical - Lançado por Oberlin Music em 14 de out. de 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dream Season: The Christmas Harp
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 1 de set. de 1997
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Five Minutes for Earth
Classical - Lançado por Azica Records em 1 de abr. de 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
American Rapture
Yolanda Kondonassis, The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Ward Stare
Classical - Lançado por Azica Records em 17 de mai. de 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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A New Baroque
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 1 de nov. de 1994
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Hovhaness
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 25 de abr. de 2000
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Harp
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 28 de jan. de 2003
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Breathe: The Relaxing Harp
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 27 de ago. de 2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scintillation
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 1 de mai. de 1993
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for a Perfect Day: Wedding Music for Harp
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 26 de mar. de 2002
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Harp
Classical - Lançado por Azica Records em 4 de jun. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (For Harp & Orchestra)
Yolanda Kondonassis, Rudolf Werthen, I Fiamminghi (The Orchestra of Flanders)
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 1 de out. de 1999
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Salzedo's Harp
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 23 de out. de 2007
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pictures of the Floating World
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 1 de jun. de 1998
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elegy (For Those We Lost) [Arr. for Trumpet & Harp]
Yolanda Kondonassis, Michael Sachs
Chamber Music - Lançado por Azica Records em 17 de set. de 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Never Far Away: Music of Bright Sheng
Yolanda Kondonassis, Jahja Ling, San Diego Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 25 de ago. de 2009
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Air
Yolanda Kondonassis, Joshua Smith, Cynthia Phelps, Oberlin 21, Bridget-Michaele Reischl
Classical - Lançado por Telarc em 28 de out. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wildflower
Classical - Lançado por Azica Records em 12 de mai. de 2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo