Noël Wan
Lauded as “a huge talent [with] hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort), Taiwanese-American harpist Noël Wan (1994) made her international debut with the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra in 2010. An acclaimed soloist, she has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia and has been featured at Carnegie Hall, het Muziekgebouw, Eslite Hall, and the Yellow Barn Summer Festival. Her 2023-2024 engagements include a Debut Atlantic Concert Tour and concerts presented by the Virginia Harp Center Festival, Taiwan Harp Festival, Conservatoire de musique de Montréal’s Harpenning Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, and St. John’s Elora Recital Series.
As an artist who values collaborative music-making, Noël enjoys performing with diverse ensembles and working with living composers. She currently serves as Principal Harpist of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and actively engages in chamber music projects, focusing on works by 20th– and 21st-century composers. Dedicated to the performance of contemporary music, she has premiered pieces by Krists Auznieks, Dmitry Tymoczko, Daníel Bjarnason, Kyong-Mee Choi, and Augusta Reed Thomas. In fall 2023, she will begin a commissioning project for electroacoustic harp, generously funded by Florida State University.
Noël is the first Taiwanese harpist to win Gold Medal in the USA International Harp Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious harp competitions, and she is the youngest First Prize winner in the history of the World Harp Competition. Other distinctions include the Mario Falcao Prize (USA International Harp Competition) and Forgotten Lore Prize (World Harp Competition) for best interpretation of a newly commissioned work; Grand Prize in the 2014 Carmel Music Society Competition; and Second Prize in the 2013 Nippon International Harp Competition, 2015 Korea International Harp Competition, and 2021 Prix Orford Musique. Additionally, she has been supported by the Chimei Arts Foundation, the Presser Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council.
An alumna of the University of Illinois (BM, DMA) and the Yale School of Music (MM), Noël is equally comfortable in her roles as a performer, academic, and educator. She has presented her scholarly work at the American Harp Society Summer Institute and the American String Teachers Association National Conference and has contributed to Harp Column, The Collective, The American Harp Journal, and VAN Magazine.
Also active as a scholar and educator, Noël has been on faculty at the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Western University; she currently serves as Assistant Professor of Harp and Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. Born in the California Bay Area, Noël and her husband, Canadian choral conductor Patrick Murray, now divide their time between Toronto, Ontario and Tallahassee, Florida, where they live with their tuxedo cats Georgina and Simone.
Saluée comme « un immense talent [avec] une puissance cachée et une maturité étonnante » (Bart van Oort), la harpiste taïwano-américaine Noël Wan (1994) a fait ses débuts internationaux avec l’Orchestre symphonique d’Utrecht en 2010. Soliste acclamée, elle s’est produite en Amérique du Nord, en Europe et en Asie et a joué au Carnegie Hall, au het Muziekgebouw, à l’Eslite Hall et au Yellow Barn Summer Festival. Ses engagements pour la saison 2023‑2024 comprennent une tournée de concerts Début Atlantique et des concerts présentés par le Virginia Harp Center Festival, le Taiwan Harp Festival, le Harpenning Festival, la Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society et la St. John’s Elora Recital Series.
Artiste attachée à la collaboration dans la création musicale, Noël aime se produire avec divers ensembles et travailler avec des compositeurs vivants. Elle est actuellement harpiste principale du Tallahassee SymphonyOrchestra et participe activement à des projets de musique de chambre, en se concentrant sur des œuvres de compositeurs des XXe et XXIe siècles. Dédiée à l’interprétation de la musique contemporaine, elle a créé des pièces de Krists Auznieks, Dmitry Tymoczko, Daníel Bjarnason, Kyong-Mee Choi et Augusta Reed Thomas. À l’automne 2023, elle entamera un projet de commande pour harpe électroacoustique, généreusement financé par la Florida State University.
Noël est la première harpiste taïwanaise à remporter la médaille d’or au concours international de harpe des États-Unis, l’un des concours de harpe les plus prestigieux au monde, et elle est la plus jeune lauréate du premier prix dans l’histoire du concours mondial de harpe. Parmi ses autres distinctions, citons le prix Mario Falcao (USA International Harp Competition) et le prix Forgotten Lore (World Harp Competition) pour la meilleure interprétation d’une œuvre nouvellement commandée; le grand prix du concours de la Carmel Music Society en 2014; le deuxième prix du Nippon International Harp Competition en 2013, du Korea International Harp Competition en 2015 et du prix Orford Musique en 2021. En outre, elle a été soutenue par la Chimei Arts Foundation, la Presser Foundation et le Conseil des arts de l’Ontario.
Ancienne élève de la University of Illinois (BM, DMA) et de la Yale School of Music (MM), Noël est tout aussi à l’aise dans ses rôles d’interprète, d’universitaire et d’éducatrice. Elle a présenté ses travaux à l’American Harp Society Summer Institute et à l’American String Teachers Association National Conference et a contribué à Harp Column, The Collective, The American Harp Journal et VAN Magazine.
Également active en tant qu’universitaire et éducatrice, Noël a fait partie de la faculté de la University of Notre Dame, du Saint Mary’s College et de l’Université Western; elle est actuellement professeure adjointe de harpe et d’entreprenariat à la Florida State University. Née dans la région de la baie de Californie, Noël s’est depuis lors établie dans de nombreux endroits pour y vivre. Elle et son mari, le chef de chœur canadien Patrick Murray, partagent aujourd’hui leur temps entre Toronto (Ontario) et Tallahassee (Floride), où ils vivent avec leurs chats tuxedo Georgina et Simone.
Visit Noël Wan’s Media Resources page to see more performance videos, read interviews, and more!
Concert Program
Écriture féminine
One of the oldest instruments in the world, the harp has been an instrument of warriors and poets, of villages squares and royal courts. Among its many guises is the Western concert pedal harp—a curious iteration whose aesthetic and mechanical development encapsulates centuries of cultural, social, and economic upheavals in Western Europe. When envisioning this program, I wanted to speak to a central conflict in the pedal harp’s identity: the historical feminization of the instrument and the backlash to it since the twentieth century. Widely perceived as a woman’s instrument, the harp was banished to domestic spaces and its repertoire, along with its female players, deemed not serious enough for professional stages. Only in the twentieth century did the harp gain credibility as a concert instrument, largely due to predominantly male composers and harpists who sought to scrub away its old feminine connotations.
As a performer-scholar who writes on music and feminist theory, I wanted to highlight the pedal harp’s tangled relationship with women from their perspectives. Inspired by French philosopher Helène Cixous’s idea of the “écriture féminine” (women’s writing), this program comprises pieces all written by women composers—some of whom are/were also harpists—who were inspired by the harp’s rich history, diverse musical traditions, and their own deeply personal experiences. “Écriture féminine” thus celebrates the ways in which the female body, mind, and soul has shaped and continues to shape our perceptions of this strange, beautiful, and complex instrument.