Tucson native Claire Thai wanted to show a different side to the harp when she composed her Harp Concerto for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
The first movement of the two-movement work casts the behemoth instrument in its quintessential state — smooth and lush with lots of big chords.
In the second movement, it segues to overlapping lines from the woodwinds and strings and showcases the dramatic side of the instrument.
"I wanted to write a piece that showed a lot of different aspects of the instrument," said Thai, a senior at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia who became interested in the harp when she was 3 and saw and heard it for the first time at a TSO Just for Kids concert.
"When you think of the harp, you think of the Disney Princess movies, lush, rich sounds, and that's a wonderful part of it," she said. “There are so many pieces I play that I dig into that aspect of the instrument, but at the same time there are so many things the (harp) can do."
Thai, 22, who has been studying harp since she was 5, has won a number of local and international harp contests including landing a solo spotlight at the 2017 World Harp Congress held in Hong Kong. She also spent several years in the TSO's Young Composers Project learning how to compose music.
Her Harp Concerto, commissioned by the TSO in 2019, was her second commission. Her first was the score for the Vail Preservation Society’s “Voices of Vail” documentary in 2018.
The Harp Concerto is the TSO's fourth commissioned work from its Young Composers Project alums.
Thai will join the orchestra this weekend to perform the world premiere of her piece on a program that also includes her teaming up with the TSO's Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning principal flute Alexander Lipay for Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp.
Performances are at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Tickets are $47 to $96 through tucsonsymphony.org and ticketholders will be required to show proof of full COVID vaccination or a negative test taken within 72 hours of the performance. Face masks are required.
