Gwyneth Wentink
Summary
Biography
Gwyneth Wentink is one of the best-know harpists of her generation. She began her career at a young age, has won important prizes and performs regularly as a soloist with orchestras. Wentink plays the standard harp repertoire but has in addition an interest in the music of India and often ...
Instruments
harp
Biography
Gwyneth Wentink is one of the best-know harpists of her generation. She began her career at a young age, has won important prizes and performs regularly as a soloist with orchestras. Wentink plays the standard harp repertoire but has in addition an interest in the music of India and often commissions new compositions. Among her frequent chamber music partners are the clarinettist Lars Wouter van den Oudenweijer and the flutist Felicia van den End. She also performs with the Rubens Quartet and the Netherlands Harp Trio. Wentink plays on a Salvi Iris harp.
1989
Gwyneth Wentink (born September 16, 1981) performs Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp with the flutist Abbie de Quant and the National Youth Orchestra conducted by Viktor Liberman. She has been studying the harp for three years.
1993 - 1996
Wentink wins first prize at the National Competition of the Young Musical Talent Foundation. In 1996 she wins first prize at the Princess Christina Competition and the International Nippon Harp Competition in Tokyo.
1998
Wentink studies with Erika Waardenburg at the Utrecht Conservatory. She wins first prize at the Torneo Internazionale di Musica in Rome and the International Harp Competition in Tel Aviv, where she is awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for the best performance of the harp concerto by R. Murray Schäfer.
1999
She wins first prize at the Young Concert Artists International Audition at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. The New York Concert Review writes of her debut in the city: "Gwyneth Wentink is a splendid harpist with a virtuoso's flair and technique. She knows how to exploit every resource of her instrument, tossing off delicate rippling arpeggios, furious cascades, whirlwind runs and remarkably sonorous, ringing harmonics, and she commands a truly amazing range of dynamics, colors and nuances”.
2000
Wentink is awarded the Richard Hall Foundation prize and the Aaron & Irene Diamond Soloist Prize. She receives her performer's diploma from Utrecht Conservatory with the highest possible marks and honours.
2001 - 2002
Wentink receives the Netherland-America Foundation Prize. She performs as a soloist with the New York Chamber Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center in New York. She appears with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gérard Korsten, at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In 2002 she returns to New York and performs at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.
2005 - 2006
In May she performs in New York with the Kirwani Quartet and the Indian bānsurī player Hariprasad Chaurasia. A live CD and DVD of this concert are issued by Navras Records. Her first solo CD, Rhapsody, and a CD with three harp concertos by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo are released. HP De Tijd writes of the first CD: “Wentink has more to offer than the typical elfin sounds. Her playing is virtuoso and robust”.
2007
Wentink is the soloist in various harp concertos early in the year, performing with, among others, the Netherlands Youth String Orchestra and the Brabant Orchestra. She is awarded the Netherlands Music Prize on April 29. At the award concert she plays Alberto Ginastera's 'Harp Concerto' with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Roberto Benzi. She also performs with the Kirwani Quartet. Roel van Oosten composes 'Triptych' for the occasion. In November she receives the VSCD Classical Music Prize “New Generation”.
2008
She releases a second solo CD, titled 'Gwyneth Wentink'. During the Netherlands Harp Days she plays in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Uri Segal. The NRC Handelsblad writes: “Her harp playing was enchanting in its timbres, her original way with timing, and striking phrasing. Wentink plays straight from the heart, without pretence of sensationalism. It's not about the harp, only the music”.
2009
She plays the 'Harp Concerto' by François-Adrien Boïeldieu with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra conducted by Roberto Benzi. She is a soloist with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. She participates in Tistheater's music theatre production 'Jij verlaat mij voordat ik jou verlaat' [You'll leave me before I leave you']. She gives a master class at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
2010
Wentink plays at the Cartagerna Festival in Colombia. In March she plays Ginastera's 'Harp Concerto' at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona with the Orquesta de Valencia conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky. In May, she plays the Ginastera concerto again with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Zander.
In the discography you will find all recordings that have been released listed chronologically. We restrict ourselves to the title, the type of audio, year of publication or recording, label, list of guest musicians, plus any comments on the issue.
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