Jazz Harp

The harp has a firm place in the orchestra and in some countries’ folk music, but it remains a rarity in jazz. However, a new generation is showing that the instrument is perfectly at home in the genre – as can be heard this season in no fewer than four concerts in the Recital Hall. With her cosmic and majestic playing, American harpist Brandee Younger conjures up memories of Alice Coltrane, the first important jazz harpist. Swiss musician Julie Campiche creates a fascinating world of sound in a quartet line-up with subtle electronic changes to the sound of the harp. Kathrin Pechlof from Cologne and her longstanding trio invent mysterious chamber music that is pared down to the essentials – music that is lyrical and abstract at the same time. And the Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda pulls off a virtuoso tightrope walk on his electrically amplified instrument.