"I spent my whole life trying to make the harp sound like a piano." - Yolanda Kondonassis

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https://www.livingtheclassicallife.com/
Yolanda Kondonassis is the first classical harpist nominated in the category of Best Classical Instrumental Solo for a concerto with orchestra (in 2020, for Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto). Her lively, inspiring conversation with Zsolt ranges from mastering a uniquely challenging instrument to strategizing success. The world-renowned artist explains how being a “pianist at heart” explains her instrument’s electrifying sound; she reveals her “obsession with timing,” and attributes her stellar career to a love for “18-step, labor-intensive processes,” turning daily practice into a high-stakes undertaking, and to using a yellow pad to avoid “false economy.”

For the visually impaired, the title cards read as follows:

Episode 74.

1. Born in Oklahoma, Yolonda Kondonassis attended high school at Interlochen Arts Academy. She continued her education at The Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Alice Chalifoux.

2. Her long list of national and international honors includes a Grammy nomination, top prizes in the Affiliate Artists National Auditions in New York, the Maria Korchinska International Harp Competition in Great Britain, two Solo Recitalists Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a 2011 Cleveland Arts Prize.

3. In addition to her active performing and recording schedule, she heads the harp departments at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Cleveland Institute of Music and is the founder and director of Earth at Heart, a non-proft organization devoted to earth literacy and inspiration through the arts.

4. The piece that is excerpted before the interview is Yolanda Kondonassis, harp; Oberlin Orchestra
Raphael Jiménez, conductor; Alberto Ginastera, Harp Concerto, Op. 25, III. Liberamente capriccioso - Vivace.