Noël Wan

My goal as an entrepreneurship faculty member is to empower students to think critically and strategically about making a living as a musician and to help them locate meaning and value in their unique experiences, perspectives, and interests. It is this alchemy of savvy and purpose that sustains an artistic career in the 21st century.

Lauded as “a huge talent [with] hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort), Taiwanese-American harpist Noël Wan (1994) made her international debut with the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra in 2010. She has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia and has been featured as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, the Muziekgebouw, American Harp Society Summer Institute, World Harp Congress, and Yellow Barn Summer Music Festival. Among her international distinctions are Gold Medal and the Mario Falcao Prize in the 12^th USA International Harp Competition; First Prize and the Forgotten Lore Prize in the 2010 Dutch Harp Festival Competition; Grand Prize in the 2014 Carmel Music Society Competition; and Second Prize in the 2013 Nippon International Harp Competition, 2015 Korea International Harp Competition, and 2021 Prix Orford Musique. Additionally, her artistic and scholarly work has been supported by the Illinois Distinguished Fellowship, Chimei Arts Foundation, Presser Foundation, and Ontario Arts Council.

Wan is an alumna of the University of Illinois (B.M., D.M.A.) and the Yale School of Music (M.M.), and her primary teachers include Ann Yeung, June Han, Chimei Hung, Erika Waardenburg, Dan Yu, Doug Rioth, and Linda Wood Rollo. As an educator and scholar, she has contributed to Harp Column, The Collective, and The American Harp Journal, where she has written on philosophy, music education, and feminism. Wan has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Western University.

nywharp.com