About

The Future Blend Project launched in 2015.
It grew into an annual solo harp composition competition that brought together composers and harpists to create brand new music for the Harp. 
Each year 8-10 finalists were chosen from anonymous scores, they then had 5 months to work with their harpist to create the best piece possible for the instrument. The harpists are some of the most exciting and experienced young professionals in the world. So far composers have had the chance to work with Eleanor Turner, Camilla Pay, Shelley Fairplay, Olivia Jaguers, Sophie Rocks, Erica Sinclair, Rosanna Moore, Fran Barsby and many many more!
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The Hidden Gem Concert was held in the first few weeks of January and was the showcase and World Premier of the 10 new works.

THE EVOLUTION OF FBP to POPPYHARP COMPOSERS PROJECT.
FBP took a break over the pandemic but is launching again in 2023.

2023: We will be recapping and showcasing the fantastic works that were celebrated in previous FBP concerts.
Composers that wish to rerelease their music will be made available on our website.

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with Fran Barsby and friends (names to be announced soon!)

Our aim is to increase repertoire for the harp and help composers better understand the instrument. This experience is completely free and I cannot thank the harpists involved enough for donating their time to this amazing project!

Each composer will work with a renowned harpist, for up to 10 sessions, dependent on the piece. You will learn about the instrument and how to create a piece that reflect each composers unique style and also compliments the instrument. At the end of your journey, your piece will be video recorded by the harpist. If you choose, the music will be sold on the PoppyHarp website and the harpist and composer will be interviewed about their experience to help and inspire other composers. 

Each selected composer will work with a harpist from May - October and receive passionate and tailored advice on composing for the harp from leading harpists around the world. 
The video of their finished work will be published on PoppyHarp Youtube and the music will be available to purchase on our website. 

Deadline for entries: 
31st March 2023
A maximum of 4 pieces will be selected each year. You may submit your piece again the following year if unsuccessful. 

​The idea is to help young composers and also increase the amount of music composed for the harp so the project is complete free to take part in.
We rely on donations to give back to the generous harpists that give their time to this project.
If you would like to donate to this project please email Fran at info@poppyharp.com - THANK YOU!
If you are a composer that would like to get involved please fill in the form below. 
If you are a harpist that would like to get involved please email Fran, info@poppyharp.com

Please note that WWW.FUTUREBLENDPROJECT.COM is nothing to do with PoppyHarp, Fran Barsby OR the original Future Blend Project. Please be cautious of scams online! ​

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Hidden Gem Concerts:

2019

Competition Winner: Ruth Lee - Music of the Angels, 
performed by Erica Sinclair

Adjudicators - Amy Turk and Shelley Fairplay
Thank you to our anonymous sponsor for making this event possible!

2nd Place - Night Piece by Nadim Jauffur, performed by Rosanna Moore
3rd Place - Elergy Contemplation by Alexandra Coursen, performed by Sophie Rocks
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Finalists
A Winter Landscape by Stephane Cem Kilic, performed by Fran Barsby
Sculpture Waltz by Ben Parkinson-Atherton, performed by Sam Rose
Well again by Amy Thomson, performed by Rosanna Moore
Fjords by Anastasia Vedyakova, performed by Erica Sinclair
We are key by David Roche, performed by Sophie Rocks
Edge of the earth by Ben Parkinson Atherton, performed by Fran Barsby

2018

Best Collaboration winner:
Prelude of a Harp by Billy Hoggmascall performed by Becki Macllory
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Adjudicators:
Anne Denholm, Edmund Jolliffe & Shelley Fairplay

Runner Up: 
Motto: FESTINA LENTE by Paolo Geminiani, performed by Sophie Rocks
Dreamers’ Circus by Ailie Robertson, performed by Rosanna Moore
Love in Idleness by Alison Willis, performed by Fran Barsby
The Sky Burst by Angela Slater, performed by Rosanna Moore
Finalists
Dwarf Columbine by Amos Wong, performed by Amy Turk
Blue by Antonio Bonazzo, performed by Fran Barsby
Elogium by Felix Ceunen, performed by Alexander Rider
Metamorphosis and Resonances by Hugo Vasco Reis, performed by Becki Mcllroy
From afar by Meng Wang, performed by Lucy Nolan
Klipspringer by Harm Roche van Tiddens, performed by Erica Sinclair
...the end of snow is nirvana by Sam Wu, performed by Fran Barsby
Koto by Paul Cowell, performed by Camilla Pay
Diary of a Lost Girl by Argyro Koliogiorgi, performed by Alexander Rider
Obake by Jean-Patrick Besingrand, performed by Erica Sinclair
If Eros Laughs by Bernard Hughes, performed by Amy Turk
A Winter Landscape by Stéphane Cem Kiliç performed by Fran Barsby 

2017

Competition Winner:
​Ivory by Anthony Green, performed by Olivia Jageurs

​​Adjudicators: Amy Turk and Catherine White

​Thank you to our sponsors:
Anonymous and Kimichi School for making this event possible!

Finalists:
The Awakening by Claudio Passilongo, performed by Fran Barsby
Tiento y Toccata by Mauricio Cristales Armas, performed by Fran Barsby
NESHAMA by Alexandra Coursen, performed by Olivia Jageurs
In a Minor Groove by Rob Siebert, performed by Natasha Gale
Resonances by Rob Crehan, performed by Kinga Was
Pop Suite by Carlos Dos Santos performed by Vera Khait
It was snowing butterflies by Nathan James Dearden, performed by Sophie Rocks
Hybrid States by Zoran Scekic, performed by Vera Khait
Ivory by Anthony Green, performed by Olivia Jageurs
Haiku for Calumet Street by Arthur Keegan-Bole, performed by Sophie Rocks
Suite pour Harpe by Louis Sauter, performed by Rita Schindler
The Child at Sunset by Ben Yee-Paulson, performed by Erica Sinclair
Cyber Lullaby by Stanislav Fridman, performed by Erica Sinclair

2016

Competition Winner
​ Foreign Halls by Ben Parkinson-Atheron, performed by Vera Khait

Thank you to the UKHA for sponsoring this years event.

Finalists:
Charge of the Light Brigade by Ben Parkinson-Atherton, performed by Kinga The Craft of fastening... by Kirsty Devaney, performed by Vera Khait
Star Cluster by Kirsty Devaney, performed by Eleanor Turner
Unprepared by Sam James, performed by Eleanor Turner
Your Pie-fect by Rob Jones, performed by Vera Khait
Water Dance by Ben Weatherill, performed by Fran Barsby
Fragility by Leon Haxby, performed by Rita Schindler
I'd like to send this to England please by Rosie Clements, performed by Rita Schindler
La Belle Noiseuse by Dominic Sewell, performed by Amy Turk
Relentless Thought by Yfat Soul Zisso, performed by Erica Sinclair
A new song by Segan Akinola, performed by Eleanor Turner
Des by Ryan Probert, performed by Rita Schindler
Study for Amplified harp by Yfat Soul Zisso, performed by Erica Sinclair
The Gates of Westbrook House by Patrick Ellis, performed by Kinga Was

REFLECTIONS ON THE HIDDEN GEM CONCERT 2018

REVIEW BY PAUL LEWIS
For the third consecutive year, the indefatigable Fran Barsby, harpist, proprietor of PoppyHarps harp shop and music publishing company, website designer and all-round human whirlwind, has masterminded and carried off with her usual panache the Future Blend Project, a competition for new harp music culminating in the Hidden Gems Concert at the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick on January 7th.
The raison d'être of the Future Blend competition is to encourage composers to write for the harp, an instrument which sadly many composers find daunting. For a surprisingly modest fee composers can submit works from which each year's judges and harpists draw up a shortlist, on this occasion from over two hundred submissions, whereupon each composer on the shortlist is paired with one of a group of volunteer harpists who then collaborates with his or her allocated composer to discuss harp writing, make any necessary adjustments to the music and finally perform it in the Hidden Gems Concert.
At least that is the intention, and mostly it works, though unfortunately a few composers were somewhat less than communicative and manifested little interest in profiting from this wonderful opportunity to discuss harp writing with a first-rate harpist and learn what works for the instrument and what doesn't. To them a big black mark! The others, I hope, will have learned much that will be of practical use should they ever compose for the harp again. I would like to say “when they compose for the harp again” but in reality we may never know whether they do or not, though we can all hope that seeds have been sown!
The works of the sixteen finalists ranged in style from melodic through tonal but without strong melody to modernist and what to many in the audience must have sounded experimental in the extreme. I have to say that the latter often resembled what to my mind has become a default-setting succession of clichéd harp effects without much actual musical content to hold them together. There was much violent hitting of the low metal strings and thumping of the soundboard, alternating with high ppp glissandi and bisbigliandi, the cumulative effect of which was a trifle numbing for the non-specialist audience, one of whom was heard to say “Give us a tune” towards the end of the first half of the concert.
And a tune we all got when Becki Mclllroy played Prelude of a Harp by William Hogmascall, an eighteen-year-old student whose interest in music began when, at thirteen, he found an out-of-tune piano in a damp room under a staircase at his new school. Five years later he produced this charming Chopinesque piece which touched the audience's heart and, to the surprise of at least one of the judges, himself a composer, won the competition. We all know that popular appeal doesn't necessarily equate to present-day musical relevance or validity, but it does at least suggest that many do like a pleasant listening experience, besides which, as Shelley Fairplay, one of the harpist judges said, harpists will want to play this piece. I counted the audience votes and Hogmascall's piece attracted nearly twice as many as any other work and received many warm and appreciative audience comments.
From Fran's point of view as a director of PoppyHarp Publishing, to know what harpists might want to play and audiences might want to listen to is extremely useful!
I have nothing but praise for the nine harpists who diligently learned the music, some of it extremely difficult, and who all performed to the utmost of their ability to show the music off to its best advantage. The concert audience chose the winning piece, the jury, consisting of two harpists and two composers, chose four runners-up. The prize money was split between composer and harpist to acknowledge the collaborative element of the competition.
Here, for what they are worth, are some of the comments I wrote on my programme during the concert – some serious, some tongue-in-cheek.
Dwarf Columbine by Amos Wong, played by Amy Turk: “Impressionistic – heavenly minor 9ths”. Beautifully played by Amy Turk in an act of true heroism and professionalism as she was battling a fearful cold and had lost her voice.

Blue by Antonio Bonazzio, played by Fran Barsby: “Rippling, reminiscent of Debussy's piano prelude 'Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum' ” - no bad thing!
Elogium by Felix Cuen, played by Alexander Rider: “Is this a portrait of a mad harpist or a mad composer? Requires extreme virtuosity to perform. Very useful stylistic reference next time I have to underscore a paranoid schizophrenic on film!” Alex worked very long and hard to get his fingers round this and played it brilliantly, though I have to wonder if we or the composer would have known if he'd played any wrong notes!
...the end of snow is nirvana by Sam Wu, played by Fran Barsby: “Calm, still”
Koto by Paul Cowell, played by Camilla Pay: “Well meaning, but.....”, whatever that means! On reflection I think this piece would grow on me with repeated hearings. Camilla's performance was heartfelt and her spoken introduction was exemplary; she is an artiste who never fails to communicate with her audience in the most beguiling fashion – an example that all young harpists would do well to emulate. Rhetorical question and answer: Are stagecraft and presentation taught at music college? I suspect not.
The Sky Burst by Angela Slater, played by Rosanna Moore: “Impressionistic till someone started knocking on the door!” Referring to unexpected tambura, presumably the sky bursting, which reminded me of the dreadful knocking from within the coffin in Edgar Alan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher – unfortunately not where the composer would have wished my mind to be.
If Eros Laughs, an extremely miniature piece by Bernard Hughes, played by Amy Turk: “Proof indeed that brevity is the soul of wit. We don't know if Eros laughed but the audience certainly did!” I love laugh-out-loud humour in music; it's more difficult to achieve than one might imagine.
Love in Idleness by Alison Willis: “Opening could be me!” which presumably means it used my favourite major sevenths and minor ninths!
Dreamers Circus by Ailie Robertson, performed by Rosanna Moore: “Lucidity under attack”. A fascinating work which reminded me of the schizophrenic nature of much of Malcolm Arnold's music: calm punctuated by violent outbursts. Another beautiful performance from Rosanna whose total involvement in the music is always a joy to watch.
Random comment written in my programme: “Bust a gut, or in this case a gut string!” Three strings did indeed break during rehearsals, all of them on Fran's own harp which she kindly lent for the occasion!
The concert took place in the wonderful setting of the 14th century great hall of the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick, which during the day hosted a display of harps from Pilgrim Harps whose amiable staff were on hand to coax anyone with thoughts of taking up the instrument to sit down and at least stroke, if not pluck, one or more of the harps on offer. This certainly changed my wife's life at last year's event when, never having touched a harp before, she fell in love with a lever harp and has been learning and practising several hours a day ever since, with the knock-on effect that I'm now writing a series of eight lever harp books for Goodmusic Publishing!
The entire day was a celebration of the harp, of harpists and harp composers, and with no less than nine harpists participating, was a chance for some happy harpy networking. Year by year the event grows from strength to strength and Fran already has plans for an even better 2018/19 competition, which is now open for entries.
©Paul Lewis