Pedal to the stage

Jessica MacBrayne never set out to be a solo harpist. Quiet and shy at school, the 20-year-old was always the kid who never wanted to stand out or attract attention. But this evening, all eyes will be on Jess as she takes to the stage with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra to play Gabriel Pierné’s romantic Konzerstück for harp and orchestra at Solo Spotlight, a concert featuring some of New Zealand’s most talented young soloists.

Words: Catherine Milford | Photo: Tessa Claus

“I was very quiet as a child, I remember one friend saying at school, ‘I didn’t know you could even talk’, I was that shy!” she laughs. “I wasn’t particularly into music either, I used to cry at music lessons when I was eight because I was so scared of the teacher!

“I learned how to play the piano first, and I hated it with a passion. I remember being very happy when I broke my finger because it meant six months off practice! My best subject at school was always English. When I did one of those career tests at school, it came out that I should be a civil engineer – which is weird because I was hopeless at physics!”

But Jess comes from a musical family – her mum, sister and brother all play instruments too – meaning music is in Jess’s blood. When she was 10, she began learning the flute and guitar. “It’s a good job I did, I think I’d have quit music altogether if I hadn’t,” she says.

The music bug had taken hold, however, and soon the oboe, violin and clarinet followed. “I actually wanted to learn the viola because it’s not one of those instruments that usually gets much attention, but my teacher told me I had to learn violin first,” she recalls. Then one day, when she was in Year 9, Jess Googled the harp – one of the oldest instruments in the world – and fell completely in love with its rich, resonant tones. “I’d never touched a harp, but I decided then and there that’s what I’d study at university.”

And although she only began learning the instrument four years ago, aged 17, that’s exactly what she’s done. Just six months after picking up her first harp, Jessica won the Grade Eight class of the 2022 New Zealand Harp Performance Competition. She is now in her third year at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM), where she’s studying for a Bachelor of Music (BMus) in Classical Performance, and in her first year there she was awarded a NZSM Director’s Award – something only offered to the most exceptionally talented students. She was also awarded the Therle Drake Undergraduate Award for Excellence in Music – given to the top performance student auditioning for the BMus in Classical Performance.

Jess’s other accolades include a Platinum Award (Young Artists Category) in the 2022-23 Canadian International Music Competition, and four Gold Awards in the 2022-23 London Young Musician Competition across multiple categories. In 2024 she won a Dame Malvina Major Award for attending masterclasses in Berlin, and she’s just returned from Vienna after winning the NZ Harp Society Scholarship.

“I had to battle my parents to get a harp, as they are very expensive, and Mum and Dad figured the piano was close enough. They couldn’t understand why I wanted one so badly. So I thought if I couldn’t get a pedal harp, I’d get one of those little lever harps instead, because I thought it would be cheaper. I ended up borrowing one for a while, but it was so boring,” she grins. “You can’t create harmonies on it the way you can with a pedal harp, I played one for about four weeks before I quit.”

But despite the setbacks, Jessica didn’t give up on her dream of owning a concert harp. “I Googled them for about four years, and I joined the New Zealand Harp Society to see if I could find a second-hand harp for sale.” But second-hand harps don’t come up very often – in fact, the one Jess bought was the first one she’d ever found.

Jessica finally got her harp in 2021, on her 17^th birthday. “It was sad, a lady in the North Island had cancer and needed to get rid of her harp, but she wanted it to go to a good home, so I got it for a reasonable price,” she says. “But then I got stressed because here I was, finally with my own harp, and I had no idea how to play one!”

Jess initially began online lessons with a Russian teacher, but learning musical technique over Zoom is less than ideal. “I didn’t know how to sit, and she couldn’t see the hand that sits behind the strings, or how my feet were on the pedals, so it didn’t go very well,” she says. “She’d say to me, ‘I can’t see what you’re doing properly, but I think that’s right’. It just didn’t really work.”

With NCEA Level Three exams taking up her time, Jess didn’t touch her harp for three months. “That was crushing. I’d finally got my harp, but I didn’t have time to play it,” she recalls. Then in February 2022, Jess got in contact with Helen Webby, one of New Zealand’s most accomplished harpists and principal harpist with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and travelled to Christchurch for her first lesson. “That’s when I learned I’d been doing everything wrong!” she laughs. Geography dictated that the rest of Jess’s lessons were conducted by Zoom, but the pressure was on – because auditions for the NZSM were that July.

Jess is bright and engaging, but despite her many musical accolades, this month’s Solo Spotlight will be a test for the unassuming harpist. “I’m very stressed about the concert,” she admits. “I have a few techniques to help with the anxiety, like lying on the floor to centre myself before I play, and I wear orchestra earplugs which helps. And run around screaming – although that’s not really very helpful! On the day I’m just hoping the orchestra is so loud you can’t hear me!”

Next year, Jess hopes to do a fourth year at university to get her honours degree, and is contemplating her next move. “I love playing with orchestras – I really enjoy those great romantic pieces – and I enjoy teaching, especially little kids,” she says. “They are so engaged and enthusiastic, and they are so happy just to be doing music. But let’s just see – anything could happen.”

Solo Spotlight takes place at 7.30pm on September 13 at Nelson School of Musical Arts.