Anna-Maria Yordanova Ravnopolska-Dean ( bg, Анна-Мария Йорданова Равнополска-Дийн), born 3 August 1960,
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, Bulgaria, is a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
n and
American harpist, composer, pedagogue, musicologist and TV host.
Biography
Education as a Harpist
By a recommendation of
Nicanor Zabaleta
Nicanor Zabaleta (January 7, 1907 – April 1, 1993) was a Spanish harpist.
Zabaleta was born in San Sebastián, Spain, on January 7, 1907. In 1914 his father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp in an antique shop. He soon began takin ...
she was accepted as a student by Italian harpist
Liana Pasquali.
After her participations in international competitions, Ravnopolska-Dean was invited to continue her studies by
Susann McDonald at
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
,
New York and at
Indiana University, Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...
.
At the Indiana University School of Music, Anna-Maria was awarded an Artist Diploma for 'Superior Artistic Achievement in Harp Performance'.
When asked about her education as a harpist Ravnopolska-Dean highlights that both of her major professors were students of the French harp school: Liana Pasqualli was a student of
Marcel Tournier, while
Susann McDonald was a student of
Henriette Renie.
Performing Career
Ravnopolska-Dean began her career as a soloist at the international stage in a series of notable international competitions, including those of
Gargilesse in Berry, Munich, and Jerusalem, where she was first noticed by renowned names such as
Nicanor Zabaleta
Nicanor Zabaleta (January 7, 1907 – April 1, 1993) was a Spanish harpist.
Zabaleta was born in San Sebastián, Spain, on January 7, 1907. In 1914 his father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp in an antique shop. He soon began takin ...
and
Susann McDonald.
During her education in
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
and
Indiana University, Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...
, she was presented on the McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase of
WXQR
WXQR-FM (105.5 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Originally based in Jacksonville, North Carolina, the station is headquartered in New Bern.
History
WXQR-FM is one of the oldest rock stations in America. It was ...
radio in New York. The invitation came after a committee from the program recognized her talent in the Artist Diploma recordings at Indiana.
After a competition in 1991 the
North Carolina Arts Council
The North Carolina Arts Council is an organization in the U.S. state of North Carolina that provides grants to artists, musicians and arts organizations. The group's mission is "arts for all people." It was founded by executive order in 1964 by Gov ...
appointed her Artist in Residence.
In 1992, Ravnopolska-Dean made her New York début at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Her repertoire at Carnegie Hall included some rarely performed virtuoso pieces, such as the
J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
violin Partita No. 3. She later debuted in various prestigious halls throughout Europe, among others in Salle Poirel,
Nancy and Gasteig,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
.
Throughout her career she has participated in many World Harp Congresses, including those in Vienna, Copenhagen, Seattle. At the Eighth World Harp Congress, Geneva, she played the first harp in an ensemble of six harps and had a separate solo performance despite suffering partial paralysis of her left hand.
In
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, Ravnopolska-Dean introduced the audience to a wide range of solo harp repertoire and harp and chamber music. Her performances inspired a series of
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
composers including Lazar Nikolov,
Dimitar Sagaev,
Dora Draganova to write pieces for harp and chamber ensembles including harp.
Simeon Pironkoff wrote for her a piece for her Carnegie Hall debut. Throughout 8 years composer Dimiter Christoff wrote 24 Preludes for Harp dedicated to the harpist and performed by her. Later Christoff assigned Ravnopolska-Dean to represent him as a sole performer at his 75-th Jubilee Celebration of his career as a composer.
She hosted a series of TV shows about classical harp music, where she also performed a broad repertoire.
In June 2008, she became the first Bulgarian to perform
Carl Reinecke’s Harp Concerto with Vidin Philharmonic and
Hans Peter Ochsenhofer
Hans may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Hans (name), a masculine given name
* Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician
** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans
** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...
.
In addition to her harp performances,
Ravnopolska-Dean also has been active as performer on piano and Paraguayan Harp. She is among the first, or the first to introduce the instrument to the Eastern European audience. She has also played concerts of her compositions on different celtic harps, the Finnish instrument kantele and piano.
Composer
Before being active as a composer, Ravnopolska-Dean arranged various pieces for harp including
Isaac Albeniz
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, a ...
’s ''Suita Espanol'' (1988),
Enrique Granados
Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enric Granados in Catalan or Enrique Granados in Spanish, was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. ...
’s ''Valses Poeticos'' and
Parashkev Hadjiev
Parashkev Hadjiev ( Bulgarian: Парашкев Хаджиев; born in Sofia, Bulgaria, 27 April 1912 - 1992) was a Bulgarian composer. He was the son of conductor Todor Hadjiev, an early champion of Bulgarian opera. Some view Parashkev Hadjiev ...
’s ''Twelve Pieces in Bulgarian Rhythm'' (1995).
In 2003,
Ravnopolska-Dean wrote her first composition "Improvisation" for solo harp. The piece was influenced by Bulgarian folk music. She was invited as a special guest performer and lecturer at the international folk harp conference HarpCon in Bloomington, Indiana: she was the only classical harpist at the HarpCon program. To honor the conference Ravnopolska-Dean decided to write the piece.
Later she wrote a series of compositions for harp based on Haiku poetry in collaboration with haiku poet
Ginka Bilyarska. Follow compositions for harp and voice, harp and flute, piano, piano four hands.
In 2010, string quartet “Hors” performs her first string quartet “Istvan”.
Gradually the focus of her compositions starts to gravitate towards popular genres, as documented by her piano and pieces. Her interest in Jazz manifests itself in her Jazz trio “Just Like This’’ (piano, saxophone and percussions) as well as „Circus“ for Jazz Band, performed by Blagoevgrad Jazz Band.
Academic and Theoretical Career
In 1991, Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean became one of the founders of the
American University in Bulgaria
The American University in Bulgaria (or AUBG) is a private university located in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Established in 1991, today AUBG has about 1,000 students from over 40 countries on 5 continents (as of Fall 2019). Close to 50% of the student ...
. At the university, she is professor of Music and teaches applied courses on the harp and the piano, as well as different theoretical courses on topics such as Latin American and Jazz music.
In her TV shows, besides playing, she also introduced the audience to different aspects of classical music and music periods, such as romanticism.
In 2002 she was awarded a Ph.D. in Music on the dissertation The Harp as ''A Coloristic Instrument in the beginning of the 20th Century,'' where among others she explored impressionist composers and their use of the harp
In 2008 students of hers played the full version of the
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
seasons for first time on the
Balkan peninsula.
Partial List of Publications
* “Modeling orchestration on harp techniques in the works of Wagner, Smetana and Stravinsky,” in “WHC Review”
* The Harp in the orchestral works of Bulgarian Composers (1900–1930)
"Music yesterday-today", Sofia 2002
* ''The Harp as a Coloristic Instrument in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century (Original title: Арфата като колористичен инструмент в началото на ХХ век), 200 pp.'', , Music Society “Vassil Stefanov”, Sofia 2001
* “The Harp as a Coloristic Instrument in the works of Claude Debussy”, In: Musical Horizons, vol. 7 - 8, 2001, 21- 25, 27 - 33.
Partial List of Compositions
Harp or Including Harp
* ''Improvisation'' for harp solo, June 2003
* ''The turtle’s castle'' for harp solo, September 2003
* ''Four compositions for harp on Haiku poetry'', October 2003
* ''Waltz and Lullaby'' for piano solo, November 2003
* ''Rap Tango'' for harp and voice, November 2003
* ''Suite of eight dances: Laendler, Tango, Fandango, Horo, Kazachok, Arabian dance, Pavane'', for solo harp, April 2004
* ''Fantasy on Verdi’s Opera La Traviata'', June 2005
* ''Two haiku pieces on Basho'', February 2006
* ''The mystic trumpeter on Walt Whitman'', February 2006
* ''Five haiku pieces “Solo Honkadorae Renga”'', for harp, February 2006
* ''Angels in Our Fields'', harp and voice
* ''Impression and Dance'', harp and flute
Piano
* ''Lazy Afternoon'', for solo piano
* ''In Bossa Nova Style'', for solo piano
* ''Raindrops'', for solo piano
* ''Cooling Down'', for solo piano
* ''Moments at Sunset'', for solo piano
Ensembles
* ''Istvan'', for Classical String Quartet
* ''Just Like This'', Jazz trio for Piano, Saxophone and Percussions
* ''Circus'', for Jazz Band
Solo Discography
* All Time Treasures, CD 2014
* Bulgarian Harp Favorites, Arpa d’oro, CD 2003
* Legende: French Music for Harp, Gega compact disc, 1999
* Harpist at the Opera (honoring the Donizetti bicentennial), Arpa d'oro CD, 1997
* Harps of the Americas (Paraguayan and pedal harps), Arpa d'oro CD, 1996
* Erich Schubert Pop Harp Festival, Gega CD, 1994
* A Harpist's Invitation to the Dance, Gega CD, 1992
Notes
External links
"Curriculum Vitae: Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean" American University in Bulgariain English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravnopolska-Dean, Anna-Maria
Bulgarian harpists
Bulgarian classical composers
1960 births
Living people
Women classical composers
Musicians from Sofia
Bulgarian jazz composers