Summer Tales | Embracing Freedoms

Tuesday, Sep 28, 2021
Juilliard Journal
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This article by second-year undergraduate harpist Renée Murphy is part of a series about what Juilliard students have been up to this summer

I took this summer as a wonderful opportunity to apply all that I had experienced and learned at Juilliard thus far. This first year had been special and significant for me, performing for in-person audiences for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park with the Juilliard harp department as well as presenting my first solo harp recital at Juilliard in Paul Hall before leaving New York for the summer.

With these special memories in my heart, I returned home to Indiana in June to take part in the Illinois Summer Harp Class, a virtual, three-day summer intensive hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. For this event, I presented an online solo recital and enjoyed interacting in conversations, presentations, master classes, and performances with harpists of wide-ranging backgrounds. One harpist joined from as far away as Norway.

Two weeks later, I participated virtually in the American Harp Society’s 24th National Competition. Having been given the option to perform live in Los Angeles or on Zoom, I chose to stay home and perform online. I was nervous, and the program was difficult—it was nearly all piano transcriptions, with technical passages that challenged me immensely. Nevertheless, what worried me most were the things that had nothing to do with playing the harp, like Wi-Fi connection and computer problems. Although there were several technical issues that were out of my control while I played, I tried to focus and give my best performance. It was a memorable and unique experience, and I was incredibly honored to be awarded first prize.

Following the harp competition, I traveled to Brunswick, Maine, to attend the three-week Bowdoin International Music Festival, which had a stringent vaccination and testing policy that enabled students and faculty to operate in a bubble. After this difficult year of physical distancing and isolation, more relaxed rules for rehearsals, coachings, lessons, and gatherings initially felt unnatural; but we all soon fully embraced these newly gained freedoms, particularly when performing chamber music.

Having returned to the Rose Building, I am spending these last days of summer working with an incredible group of student leaders on the orientation team. It has been truly heartwarming to make new friends and to interact with Juilliard students from other divisions, and, of course, to welcome the class of 2025!

Looking back, I am filled with gratitude to have had these experiences of personal growth as an individual and as an artist. The pandemic has challenged me, pushing me down and bringing me up to look higher and to think bigger than I had ever dreamed. It has taught me to be optimistic, determined, and compassionate and to look toward the future with pride and responsibility, but also to look at the here-and-now with a determination to do all I can to make the most of my own abilities. My hopes for my second year at Juilliard will be affected by all I have seen, heard, and experienced this summer. I am filled with anticipation to express steadfastness and passion in the arts, which is so essential for us all, whether we are close or far apart.

Renée Murphy is a second-year undergraduate harpist