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Top Harpists Paths to Success by Sunita Staneslow (first published in the Harp Column)   The finalists of the 15th International Harp Contest in Israel (left to right): Varvara Ivanova(Russia), Albane Mahe (France), Julie Bunzel (USA/Israel)

Question: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Goes the familiar joke
Answer: Practice, practice, practice.

Question: How do you win the Israel Harp Competition?
Answer: Practice, practice, practice and stay calm, be a gifted musician, have a great passion for the harp, have a supportive family and a greater purpose than winning for yourself.

These are the answers giving to me by the top two winners of the 2003 Israel Harp Competition in October. Varvara Ivanova, from Moscow, Russia won first place and Julie Bunzel, originally from San Francisco, USA placed second. I interviewed Varvara with the translation assistance of another Russian harpist, Zina Suchobok, since my Russian is just not up to snuff. Julie Bunzel speaks English, of course, and we chatted for over an hour.

What really is the recipe for success? I used to think that all it took was the luxury of having enough time to practice and have the financial backing so you didn’t mortgage your house while you practiced. But, I learned that it is much more than that, at least at this elite level. The Israeli Harp Competition is still the Olympics of the harp competition world. There are prestigious European and American competitions, but being in the finals of the Israeli competition is still a battle for the gold, silver and bronze.

Russia captured the gold medal. Varvara Ivanova, age 16, placed first.  We will be hearing great music from her in the future. Immediately after she finished her performance of Ami Ma’ayani’s harp concerto in the final stage, I started scanning the audience for harpists I knew that speak Russian and English. It was clear that I would have to interview her. After the awards were announced and the judges greeted the finalists, the Russian judge gave Varvara such a great hug—there wasn’t a dry eye in the hall. We all felt proud of her and everyone with Russian roots stood a few inches taller.

Who is Varvara? Born in Moscow in 1987 to a musical family, Varvara’s father was a singer and her brothers and sisters play the piano and cello. Varvara started studying the harp at age 5 with Margarita Maslinikov. Three years later she continued her lessons with Emilia Moskvitina. Ms Moskvitina was the winner of the second prize in the Israeli Harp Competition in 1965. Varvara studied eight years at a conservatory in Moscow and now is completing four years of mandatory technology study. This spring, she will graduate from high school. When asked how much she practices, Vavara’s answer is always, “all day!” She was drawn to the sound of the harp. “I loved the harp from the beginning and practiced every day.”

Varvara loves classical music and listens to music “a lot”. She especially likes Romantic music, but also enjoyed working on the contemporary concerto required for the final stage: Concerto no. 1 for harp and orchestra by Ami Maayani.
 I asked her if this was her first competition and she smiled. Varvara has won prizes in youth competitions in Moscow, Vienna and Lausanne.

HC: How did you control your nerves during the competition?

VI: I only think about the music and the experience of playing.

 This sounds pretty Zen to me, but Varvara is also a very devout Christian and dressed quite modestly for the final stage.

I am always in search of an easy answer to nervousness and every time I ask a winner of a competition, the answer is the same. They focus on the music and do not let their mind wander. Varvara had good reason to let her mind wander. Only a few weeks prior to the competition, on the 6th of October, her father was murdered in Moscow. The rumor is that it is over a pair of shoes, but the murder is still under investigation and Varvara doesn’t believe that this was the only reason.

HC: How did your father’s death affect your performance?

VI: At first I didn’t want to go to the competition. I even stopped practicing when I was in Moscow. But, since my father had worked so hard to make it possible to go to the competition, I did not want to disappoint him and went to Israel to win for him.”

HC: It may seem like a silly question, since you have suffered from violence in Moscow, but were you afraid to come to Israel?

VI: “No, I was not afraid.”

HC: Why didn’t you didn’t travel with you harp? Many of the competitors brought their own harps to the competition.

Varvara explained that her harp was very old and not in good condition. Winning a new concert grand harp is like a dream come true. Harps are not particularly expensive in Russia, but their quality is poor and good strings are expensive.

HC: And now, after winning first place, what plans do you have for the future?

 Varvara will return to Moscow to finish high school and then will continue her studies and enter more competitions (watch out!) and her long-term goal is to “become a solo harpist”. I am certain that she will travel the world with her harp.

Julie Bunzel, USA took the silver. Julie now lives near Tel Aviv, but was born and raised in San Francisco. She studied with Linda Wood Rollo and then Marcella DeCray. She attended every masterclass she could with Susann McDonald and went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she studied with Lynne Aspnes.  Although Julie now lives in Israel, the majority of her training was in the US so she entered the competition as an American.  Julie also studied with Judith Liber (former harpist with the Israel Philharmonic) when she was living in Israel from 1995-98. Ms. Liber has retired from the IPO and now lives in Italy. So, to prepare for the competition, Julie tracked Judith Liber down every time she was visiting Israel and flew to Italy twice for intensive weeklong sessions and they mailed videos back and forth from Israel to Italy. “I really wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Judith Liber.  Her concept of sound and her approach to music is what really helped me. She is a very dynamic teacher,” explained Julie.

Flying off to Italy for intensive study sounds so romantic until you learn that Julie is 34, married and has 4 children! Julie has “a very supportive and encouraging husband” who took care of the children ages 18 months to just over 9 years old, while she studied.

HC: How did you find the time and energy to practice enough to prepare for the competition?

JB: I have easy pregnancies and I just did it. I would wake up at 6:30am and exercise and then when the kids went to school I practiced about 4 hours every morning. Mornings were harp time. During the preparation I was pregnant, gave birth and had an infant. When my daughter was able to walk, then I needed to hire a baby-sitter for the mornings. I wasn’t originally planning on entering the competition, but after I performed the Debussy with a local orchestra I was interested in learning new repertoire. I mentioned to Judith Liber that I was looking for new music. She suggested that I learn the music for the next Israeli competition and could always decide later whether or not to compete. It was really my conversation with Judith Liber that planted the seed for me to enter the competition. I set a schedule to learn the pieces in one year and then to memorize them the following year.  I stuck to my schedule and didn’t give up! I had the baby over the summer and went to the US and didn’t practice for four months. I returned to Israel and then decided to enter the competition and went full steam ahead.

HC: Was this your first competition?”

JB: No, but even though I entered the AHS competitions as a kid, I never won anything there. I did win the Concerto Competition with the Ginastera in college and other local scholarships and concerto competitions. I placed in the semi-finals in Wales, but my heart was more into performing than competing. I gave lots of recitals and even performed on Princess Cruises! This is actually my second time competing in the Israel Competition. I made it into the second stage in 1998.

HC: What has changed in your playing since the last competition?

JB: It was a world of a difference for me to compete this time. When I went on stage in ’98 I was visibly shaking and this time I was relaxed. I was a bit nervous waiting between the stages, but once I was at the harp, I was fine. I was able to avoid nervousness with a lot of mental preparation and the right attitude. This time I went on stage to perform---to give to the audience rather than to prove myself. I also relied on a tremendous amount of mental preparation. I would go over pieces in my mind and could do my pedaling in my head. I knew that I had prepared as much as was possible and that there was no more that could be done.

My nerves and concentration were really tested throughout this contest! In ’98 I had a disc fall off my harp while I was performing. This time, during the first stage when I was performing “Une Chatelaine” by Faure, I saw something fall from the harp. I thought that it couldn’t happen to me again. Such a freak thing! I just kept playing and figured that if it was a disc that fell, then I would have terrible buzzing and I would know. So, I continued on to finish the performance with the Faure,” Impromptu.” During the break, I was told that a 3rd octave disc did fall off my harp and the judges had found it. The disc fell off at a time when I no longer needed it! Nothing short of a miracle!

That was not the only one of my harp problems unfortunately! I had a terrible buzz in the 6th octave A, which haunted the harp technician. He thought he had fixed it, but then five hours before the first stage the A pedal rod broke and he replaced it. Then, during the semi-finals a string broke near to the end of “Children’s Hour” and at the same time the terrible buzz returned! So, I finished the piece as best I could and after examining the harp again, the technician told me it could only be fixed at the factory and I should pick another harp to use to finish the semi-finals. So, to my relief there was one other Lyon & Healy 23 back at the hotel, which they went and got for me. The next contestant performed while they got me the harp! Then, I continued the rest of the semi-final stage as well as the finals with that harp.

HC: Please tell us more about your background. What drew you to the harp?

JB: My mother is a concert pianist and I began studying the piano at age 3 1/2. When I was 10 1/2, Linda Wood played the harp at my school. I still remember that day clearly. Ms. Wood invited kids up to try the instrument, but I was too shy. I didn’t even touch the harp, but went home and told my mother that I wanted to play the harp. She thought it was a great idea and we tracked down Ms. Wood and I began lessons with her and so did my mother! I fell in love with the harp and it has been my passion ever since!

HC: So, have you always known that you would be a professional harpist?

JB: Yes. The harp used to be my complete identity. After graduating from college, I was preparing for the Bloomington contest when my right shoulder went into a spasm and I was unable to practice and compete. I looked in the mirror and felt a void. The harp had been my complete identity and without the harp, I didn’t know who I was. After excellent physical therapy I was able to resume playing, but having time away from the harp gave me time to reflect. It was at this time that I started exploring my Jewish roots. I began studying Jewish history, Jewish traditions and become gradually more observant.
I came to Israel in 1993 and studied at a yeshiva (religious seminary) in Jerusalem that was completely supportive of me as a musician. My Jewish studies teachers encouraged me to practice and I would use a harp at Hebrew University.

HC: How did becoming a more religiously observant Jew affect your career as a performer? It is very rare to see an orthodox Jewish woman performing and competing on this elite level.

JB: I love to play and the reasons are all tied in with my belief and faith and trust in G-d. If anything, I am a much better musician. I believe that real-life experience, faith and even having children make you a better musician. I love being different and feel proud to represent the religious community when I sub with the Israel Philharmonic. I also perform with the Ra’anana Symphonetta (a local orchestra) and with the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

HC: Besides winning the second prize, what was the best part of the competition for you?

JB: Learning excellent repertoire. It was music that you could sink your teeth into. The first stage was long, but well balanced and wasn’t all technical, but required musicality. Also, everyone has a chance to win and feel good because there are separate prizes for the best performance of individual compositions. I won the award for the best performance of both the Israeli piece and the Ravel, Introduction and Allegro. I was so excited to win these awards…really excited.

HC: Could you tell us a little about how it was behind the scenes of the competition? I know that you all stayed in the same hotels for ten days.

JB: In big competitions, you can avoid people. I didn’t speak to the other competitors in 1998. But, this time, we all met each other and everyone was chatting and sitting together during meals. Many of us attended a composer’s workshop and went on guided tours during the free days.

HC: Varvara mentioned that she became friends with the French harpist, Albane Mahe, who placed third. I stepped out of the auditorium while the judges were making their final decisions and saw Varvara and Albane peaking into the auditorium looking for Varvara’s mother and chatting together as if they were in a performance together---not a competition! This really struck me.

HC: Julie, I saw you speak to your mother afterwards as your friends and family were congratulating and photographing you. It seemed like half of your neighborhood was in the audience!

JB: (laughing) Yes, half of Bnai Brak was there. I have a very supportive family and many of my former teachers from yeshiva (religious seminary) were in the audience.

HC: What are your plans for the future?

JB: I am busy preparing for the audition this February for the Israel Philharmonic.

HC: Good luck and Mazel Tov!

The recipe for success:
Practice: 3000 hours. About 4 hours a day for approximately two years.
Discipline: massive quantity
Family support- endless quantity
Real life experience –priceless
Mental focus and control
Drive and energy—impossible to purchase
Love and passion for the harp--obviously
Countless years of study under great teachers

Combine all ingredients and reap the benefits!

About the Competition

There were only eleven competitors this year due to the political situation in Israel, and I wondered if that would mean a loss of stature to the competition. But, the finalists were at the same elite level and three years ago. “The quality was unchanged and it was like entering at the second stage and missing the preliminaries,” said second place winner Julie Bunzel. The Israeli competition has many advantages over other competitions, There are awards for individual pieces, (Julie won an award for best Israeli Composition and her performance of the Ravel, “Introduction and Allegro”) and Varvara won an additional prize for best performance of a contemporary composition. The contestant from Japan (help—I no longer have my program—what is her name?) won the award for the best performance of a Japanese work. So, there were a number of awards and prize monies in addition to the grand prize of a Lyon and Healy CG100.  Also, every competition features a new solo composition by an Israeli composer, thereby adding a new work to the repertoire for all harpists.

What else is special about the Israeli Harp Competition? It is open to the public and the harpists perform on stage. It is not a private gathering with judges behind a screen. The competition is divided into four stages and the semi-finals include an ensemble piece with musicians from the Israel Philharmonic. The final stage is a concerto performed with the full orchestra in the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.
I (Sunita Staneslow) personally, think that the Israeli competition is special because so many Israelis take such pride in the fact that an international harp competition is held in their country. When Israelis learn that I am a harpist, often the next question is whether I have heard of the Israeli International Harp Competition. Despite everything, serious competitors will always be at the Israel Harp Competition.

Information about the 2006 competition