Anti-Angelic Aesthetics

The harp world is small and isolated, often ignored by media outlets. But changes are afoot among those who play the instrument at the highest level. New repertoire and collaborations are on the rise, as are different ways of thinking about the harp’s past and why it’s an instrument overwhelmingly played by cisgendered women. (An oft quoted statistic is that 93 percent of harpists are female.) I called Noël Wan, who recently won the Gold Medal at the USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington, to ask her about her life as a harpist and competitor and the changing role of gender in the harp world.