Faculty/Guest/Student Recital | Presented by the Harp Department

Performances by the Aletheia Duo (Jonathan Keeble & Ann Yeung), Heaven Fan, Elizabeth Hainen, Matthew Milewski, Elżbieta Szmyt, FanFen Tai, and the Jacobs School of Music.

Repertoire:
Handel: “Allegro moderato” from Concerto in B-Flat Major, HWV 294
Andrès: Selections from La ragazza (1988)
Grandjany: O bien aimée (1955)
Reinhold/Hainen: Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 28 No. 3 (1881)
Renié: Scherzo-fantaisie (1898)
Croft: “Ground” from Suite No. 3 in C Minor
Franck/Owens: Selections from Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18 (1862)
Debussy: Arabesque No. 1 (1891)
Travers: Vals for Susann (2016)
Salzédo: Chanson dans la nuit (1927)
Molnar/McDonald/Rollo: A Medley of Strauss Waltzes (2015)
Press: Polka in C Major (1970)

Remembering Susann McDonald by Elżbieta Szmyt (used by permission)

Susann McDonald passed away on May 29, 2025, at the age of 90. She served on the Jacobs School of Music harp faculty from 1981 until her retirement in 2016, when she became distinguished professor emerita.

McDonald was widely regarded as one of the greatest harpists and harp pedagogues in the world—a teacher and role model to the most prominent harpists of our time, a creator of the World Harp Congress, and founder of the USA International Harp Competition.

Her career started in Illinois, matured in France, and took root in New York City, southern California, Arizona, and Indiana.

Born on May 26, 1935, in Rock Island, Illinois, McDonald followed a family path to the harp. Her beloved grandfather used the harp for prison ministry, so it was natural for her mother and then her, at the age of six, to play the same instrument. Lessons with Mrs. Franklin Peterson in Rock Island led to the long train trip for lessons in Chicago with Marie Ludwig and Mildred Dilling.

However, it was her first summer trip to France, at age 17, to study with famed harp pedagogue Henriette Renié that initiated the harp as a calling. She returned the following year, then attended the Paris Conservatory, studying under Renié and Lily Laskine. In 1955, she became the first American to earn the prestigious Premier Prix de Harpe.

McDonald returned to great acclaim in the United States. She played solo before 60,000 people at the Chicagoland Music Festival at Soldier Field, on CBS’s The Morning Show, and at the Philips Gallery in Washington, D.C., receiving a glowing review from The Washington Post.

In 1956, she moved to New York City and signed a contract with Allied Artists. In December 1958, her manager, Ann Kullmer, arranged for McDonald to give three solo harp recitals at New York’s Carnegie Hall in one week, all three programs including only works originally written for the harp. In 1959, she won second prize at the First International Israel Competition, and her career accelerated.

McDonald’s first college teaching position was at the University of Arizona in 1963. Soon after, she established a harp department at California State University, Los Angeles. She then joined the faculty of the University of Southern California, continuing to perform extensively. In 1973, Columbia Artists asked her to join its artist roster, and she concertized across the country.

She chaired The Juilliard School of Music Harp Department from 1975 until 1985.

In 1981, Jacobs Dean Emeritus Charles Webb offered her a position as head of the Jacobs School Harp Department. She continued teaching at Juilliard, but in 1985, eager to finally settle in one place, she decided to devote full attention to her rapidly growing program in Indiana. This allowed more time to travel internationally, and she gave numerous master classes in leading conservatories throughout Asia, Europe, and South America.

A prolific organizer, she was one of the founders of the World Harp Congress, serving as artistic director from its inception in 1983 until 2012. She was also an honorary president of the Association Internationale des Harpistes in Paris, France.

The first USA International Harp Competition took place in July 1989, with McDonald as its founder. After serving on the juries of most international harp competitions, she developed one at Indiana University to attract harpists from around the globe. It has since become the world’s premier harp competition.

Also in 1989, McDonald was named distinguished professor of music at IU, only the third woman in the Jacobs School of Music to receive this honor.

Her recordings and publications include much of the major harp literature.