Teresa Suen-Campbell: My Voice: Harp Concerti
Navona Records

Chinese-Canadian harpist Teresa Suen-Campbell truly does give expression to “her voice” on this splendid presentation of three concerti, a sparkling one from the Baroque era by George Frideric Handel and two contemporary ones from Canadian composers Ka Nin Chan and James W. Campbell. The title also applies literally to the project when Chan's requires the harpist to augment her instrument with singing. With the neo-classical character of Campbell's concerto factored into the equation, the release becomes a panoramic overview of harp styles across the ages. As critical to the recording's impact are the performances by her accompanists, the Sinfonia Toronto led by conductor Nurhan Arman; adding to its Canadian focus, the album was recorded at Toronto's Humbercrest United Church in September 2024.

Suen-Campbell, recognized as the first harpist from China to acquire a Doctor of Music in Harp Performance, studied at Northwestern University in Chicago and is on faculty at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She's also a harp examiner at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and calls Oakville, Ontario home, where she lives with her husband James and their three sons. Each concerto is meaningful to her in a different way. Written in 1736, Handel's Harp Concerto in B Flat Major, Op.4, No.6, HWV 294 is one she embraced as a graduate student; Campbell's lyrical Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in D “Atonement” was written as an engagement present for her; and Chan's Harp Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, his first concerto for the instrument, was also written for Suen-Campbell.

While Sinfonia Toronto is known for celebrating the work of Canadian composers, its repertoire, as this recording shows, extends beyond it too. Regarded as one of Canada's finest chamber orchestras, the ensemble includes string virtuosi who, in the grand tradition of European chamber orchestras, perform standing. In similar manner, Maestro Nurhan Arman has conducted orchestras across the globe, from Moscow and Frankfurt to St. Petersburg and France, but the Sinfonia Toronto, of which he's also Music Director, holds a special place in his heart. The powerful connection between conductor and ensemble resonates strongly through the three performances.

My Voice begins on a high with a resplendent treatment of the Handel concerto, which was originally written for organ or harp and is part of his Alexander's Feast oratorio. After the swoop of the strings sets the stage for the graceful entrance of Suen-Campbell's harp, the two forces continue wending their joyful way through the compact opening movement. The slow-paced “Larghetto” that follows is rendered with exquisite care, the soloist's instrument an ideal conduit for the beauty of Handel's melancholy expression. The movement ends with a lovely cadenza composed by Suen-Campbell herself before the breezy “Allegro moderato” concludes the concerto on a radiant note.

Commissioned by his wife in 2010, Campbell's three-movement concerto was inspired by his love of God and Teresa and was premiered in 2014 by her and the Kindred Spirits Orchestra. Thematic transitions are effected from one movement to the next, the first considering the sense of futility a life without God entails, the second the serenity a life with Him brings, and third the joy experienced through that embrace. The opening “Moderato” movement opens with pulsing string patterns offset by slower statements by the brass and woodwinds; even at this early juncture, Campbell's composition exemplifies a harmonious and melodic character reminiscent of Michael Nyman's—not a bad thing. The entwining of harp and orchestra is handled fluidly, with their interlacing accentuating even more the work's neo-classical tone. Suen-Campbell's artistry is well-captured by the lovely solo harp intro to the gentle “Andante” movement, whose sweetly melodic character's magnified by the Sinfonia's woodwinds and strings. As engaging is the spirited “Vivace,” which resolves the concerto with effervescence and joy (watch for the late-inning chimes that weave themselves into the lustrous symphonic framework).

Similar to Suen-Campbell, Chan was born in Hong Kong and moved with his family to Canada in 1965 where he eventually studied at the University of British Columbia before obtaining graduate degrees in music at Indiana University; since 1982, he's taught theory and composition at the University of Toronto. As his Harp Concerto was composed during the pandemic years (2021–22) and written with thoughts of vulnerable people in mind, it doesn't surprise that dark and forlorn moments would occasionally surface. However, the single-movement concerto is a multi-dimensional affair that touches on multiple moods as it advances along its twenty-two-minute journey. Impressionistic and evocative, the work paints fascinating pictures when Chan incorporates pitch-shifting, billowing harp strums, and other dramatic effects into its fantasia-like design. That it's a deeply personal work for him is reflected in the fact that the harpist's wordless singing is intended to suggest the singing of his own elderly mother while reflecting on her youth and late husband.

August 2025