Susann McDonald

Susann McDonald (born May 26, 1935) is an American-born classical harpist. In addition to a successful performing career, she has made a number of recordings and held significant academic and organizational posts.

McDonald was born in Rock Island, Illinois. After studies in Chicago and New York City, at age 15 she entered the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied with Henriette Renié and Lily Laskine and in 1955 was the first American to win the Premiere Prix de Harpe. Not long thereafter, she was a winner in the first International Harp Competition in Israel; in 1970, she returned to the competition as a judge. Around this time she also had an audience with Juliana of the Netherlands following a recital at the Concertgebouw.

From her early years, McDonald toured widely; besides Israel and the Netherlands, her travels took her to South America and Canada for recitals and to Europe for radio and television broadcasts. She also began to develop what would be a noteworthy academic career. For a time, she served simultaneously as head of harp departments at the Universities of Arizona and Southern California and California State College at Los Angeles. From 1975 to 1985, she was the head of the harp department at the Juilliard School. She then took a position as chairman of the harp department at Indiana University-Bloomington in the Jacobs School of Music, which has the largest harp department in the world; somewhat later, she was named a Distinguished Professor of Music.

McDonald has also played a prominent role in organizations devoted to the harp. She is the artistic director of the World Harp Congress and the honorary president of the Association Internationale des Harpistes, and she is the founder and music director of the USA International Harp Competition. Past students include Nancy Allen, Erzsébet Gaál, Cristina Braga, Şirin Pancaroğlu, Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean, María Luisa Rayan-Forero,Jessica Suchy-Pilalis, JoAnn Turovsky,Naoko Yoshino, Kristie Smith, and Natalie Salzman.

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