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Amy Nam, Luther College adjunct faculty in music for harp and composition, was awarded second prize in the World Harp Competition, held during the 2024 Dutch Harp Festival in Utrecht, Holland, in April 2024.  

The winners of the 2024 Dutch Harp Festival’s World Harp Competition are Kevin Le Pennec (center), first prize and audience award; Amy Nam (left), second prize; and Ariel Sol (right), third prize. Photo: Elizabeth Jaxon, courtesy of World Harp Competition.

“I was very excited,” said Nam about the experience. “I was the last to play in the semi-final round. It was a whirlwind. I was so happy to get to go, because all of the contestants’ programs were unique and interesting.”

Unlike many musical competitions that set the repertoire for participants, the World Harp Competition allows each contestant to create their own 45-minute program. “It’s whatever you want to play, anything involving you playing the harp,” said Nam. “There are all kinds of harps, even electric harps, folk harps and classical harps. It encourages creativity and pushing the harp outside the box.”  

Nam’s program is entitled “Cosmic Fragments: Words and Music About Life, the Universe and Everything.” According to harpcolumn.com, “Nam’s program featured works written within the last century, alternating poems and prose with short works for solo harp, and reflecting on themes of the human experience in the context of the cosmos.” 

It included compositions by multiple composers, including Nam’s own work, played on the acoustic concert grand harp, a small electric harp and a large floor pedal harp that was electroacoustic. Between playing, Nam recited selected written works by authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mary Oliver over a background of electronic interludes composed by Sean William Calhoun. 

Nam described her program as “a sweeping and quirky musical-poetic survey of human experience and the universe we inhabit. … It grapples with the most profound aspects of our existence: impermanence, imagination, suffering, wonder and potential.” Nam premiered the program in April, before the World Harp Competition, at Luther College’s Weston H. Noble Recital Hall.  

“I’m left with three things,” Nam said about the competition and its results. “One was increased weight and credibility with my name. There’s also the program that I’ve developed that’s unique and that I can take places, such as other festivals. It’s something personal to me that has been worked to a high level. Finally, going to that competition and seeing other contestants in a whole festival with other harpists from around the world was very inspiring and energizing, and I will run off that energy for a long time.” 

Luther College’s Dr. David J. Roslien Distinguished Lecture in Science and Leadership presents author Shawn Otto at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall. Otto’s talk, titled “The War on Science” (after his 2016 book of the same title), will be followed by a time for questions and answers, moderated by Luther Regent Dr. Michael Osterholm, Luther College class of 1975, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. 

Shawn Otto speaks to audiences worldwide about the scientific foundations of democracy and the causes and dangers of anti-science authoritarianism. His award-winning non-fiction book “The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do About It” predicted the rise of anti-science authoritarians and the threat they pose to democracy. 

“Shawn Otto’s lecture at Luther is wonderfully timed, as folks are certainly engaging in discussions and decisions at the heart of U.S. democracy,” said Andy Hageman, associate professor of English and director of the college’s Center for Ethics and Public Engagement. “He brings tremendous research and insight to the ways science and policy have been mixed by governments and leaders.” 

“Folks who attend will get a deep perspective on what is at stake regarding science and science-informed policy going forward, and that can inform and shape how we engage in elections and civic interaction with government officials,” Hageman added. 

After the lecture, there will be a book signing with opportunities to buy Otto’s books. 

About Shawn Otto

Shawn Otto will give the 2024 Dr. David J. Roslien Distinguished Lecture in Science and Leadership.

Shawn Otto’s book “The War on Science” has been called “a game changer.” “If you care about attacks on climate science and the rise of authoritarianism, if you care about biased media coverage or shake-your-head political tomfoolery, this book is for you,” said The Guardian in a 2016 review.

Otto was awarded the National Distinguished Public Service Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology, for his work elevating science in American public dialogue. He was cofounder and producer of the 2016 U.S. presidential science debates. Otto has advised candidate science debate efforts in many countries. 

He is also an award-winning screenwriter and novelist, including writing and co-producing the Academy Award-nominated movie “House of Sand and Fog.” He also wrote the literary crime novel “Sins of Our Fathers,” a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. 

He lives in Minnesota with his wife, Rebecca Otto, the former Minnesota state auditor and candidate for governor, in a solar- and wind-powered green home he designed and the couple built with their own hands. Learn more about him on his website, www.shawnotto.com. 

About the Roslien Distinguished Lecture

The Dr. David J. Roslien Distinguished Lecture in Science and Leadership brings internationally recognized individuals who have made impacts on society through the use of cutting-edge science or global leadership in policy and programs to Luther College to engage with faculty and students.