4S Ranch teen harpist to play at Carnegie Hall

A 16-year-old harpist from 4S Ranch is headed to New York City this summer to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Maho Morikawa recently won a second place award in the 13- to 18-year-old division of the American Protégé International Concerto Competition.

Those who placed were invited to perform in Carnegie Hall this summer or fall, with the top finalists also receiving additional prizes. The list of winners’ names, instruments and selections, including Morikawa’s, can be viewed at americanprotege.com/concerto2016.

Her mother, Yuka Morikawa, said they learned about the contest through the Rancho Bernardo News Journal when it featured a local winner a few years ago.

Morikawa’s entry video featured her playing the first movement of “Concerto for Harp in C Major” by Boieldieu.

“It’s not unknown, but it’s also not mainstream,” Morikawa said. “I enjoyed the way it sounds, ... it’s emotional and I excel at that type (of music). I picked it because I loved the way it sounded and it’s really technical. It scared me at the beginning, but became my favorite because it’s fun and bouncy.”

Her entry included a piano accompanist, but at Carnegie Hall she will play alone. For her July 2 performance, Morikawa said she will play “Impromptu” by Gliere.

“It’s quite different; a romantic piece with emotional, big swells; a dramatic piece,” she said.

“(Playing at Carnegie Hall is) a really big honor ... a really big step toward figuring who I am as a musician,” she said. “This is really exciting for me.”

She added, “It is one of those experiences that is taking time to hit me. The recording felt good, but in a competition like this you do not know who you are going up against, so I was not expecting a lot.”

The international competition was open to all instruments, including strings, piano, voice and winds. Entrants were from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Poland, China, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, according to the contest’s website. Entrants were divided into three divisions, 12 and under, 13 to 18 and adult.

Learning a new piece of music takes three to six months, depending on its length and if it has a lot of subtleties to understand, she said. “I practice every day for an hour or more.”

Morikawa said she started playing the harp around age 6 because “I thought it was pretty. It sounded amazing and I had a knack for it. It felt good to play, giving me an emotional release because, as an individual, I’m not an expressive person.”

She said both of her parents are also musicians. Her mother plays the piano, and her father, Kazuyuki Morikawa, plays the guitar.

Morikawa said she has also played the flute since fifth grade and now, as a Del Norte High junior, is a flutist in its wind ensemble and marching band. On the flute she occasionally plays duets with her mom on the piano.

In sixth grade she became a harpist with Civic Youth Orchestra in Escondido and was its principal harpist in 2013-14. Due to school and other commitments she became a part-time member last year.

“Music takes up much of my time,” Morikawa said, adding she would like to study it in college so she can eventually teach while still performing.