Esther Beyer (harp) joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after she won a Musicians' Company award in 2020. Here she performs the first and third movement form Caroline Lizotte’s Suite Galactique. Esther says: "For my #MiddayMusic performance, I am performing Lizotte’s Suite Galactique, a piece I first heard when I was 18 years old and have loved ever since. The first movement is called 'Exosphere', which Lizotte writes is the “atmospheric layer approximately 1000km deep, where the lightest molecules escape the effect of gravity and reach interplanetary space. The substance is built on the low register of the harp – in the earth – as if we had taken a clud of mud and extracted the water from it, and followed its molecular cycle through several transformations it experiences in the atmosphere. Musically, an ascending feeling – free of gravitational forces – is represented.” The third movement, 'Scherzo del Pueblo', has a different mood entirely. Translated, it means Scherzo of the People, and is a very lively movement, which dances along and contains lots of extended techniques such as plucking above the pin, pitch bends and nail glissandi. I have turned to this piece again and again over the first and second lockdowns, as I find solace and relaxation in playing the first movement, and the third never fails to put a smile on my face. I hope my performance today speaks to you in a similar way." Esther Beyer is currently in her first year of a Master of Music degree at the #RoyalAcademyofMusic, studying with Karen Vaughan, where she recently won the inaugural Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Prize, the final of which was held at #WigmoryHall. A passionate orchestral musician, Esther has worked under the batons of renowned conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardener and Ilan Volkov, and has premiered works by Tansy Davies, Unsuk Chin and Iris ter Schiphorst. Notable solo highlights include playing for HRH Duchess of Cornwall on the Royal Harp at Clarence House. Esther is also an avid chamber musician and is having particular success with her flute and harp ensemble, the Equinox Duo, who are performing regularly across England. Recent appearances include the Barnes Music Festival Young Artists Programme (2019), and a recital of recent works for flute and harp at the RAM (2020), including a new commission by postgraduate composer, David Nunn. With a keen interest in contemporary music, they aim to continue to commission new music for the duo. She is a grateful recipient of a Wolfson Foundation Grant (2018), which allowed her to purchase her Salvi Iris harp. Her studies are generously supported by Help Musicians UK and The Musician’s Company. -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profiles - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/esther-beyer/ About our Musicians' Company awards - http://www.wcom.org.uk/awards/musicians-company-awards-including-busenhart-morgan-evans-and-david-goldman-awards About our Musicians' Company awards - http://www.wcomarchive.org.uk/--allcard-funds Esther's Website - http://www.estherbeyerharp.com/ -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by generous donations from the public, along with funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund