Since 1974, Claro has regularly given concerts across
Scandinavia, Europe and Latin America as soloist with orchestra, in solo recitals,
chamber music and in "Duo Claro" with Danish flutist
Lars Graugaard.[4] She performs the classical repertoire as well as contemporary music and she regularly holds
master classes in connection with her concerts. Over the years she has developed close contact with several contemporary composers such as Nicola Sani,
Fernando Garcia,
Per Nørgård,
Fausto Romitelli, Gustavo Becerra, Agostino Di Scipio and
Åke Parmerud and she commissions and premieres a large body of works out of which more than 50 are dedicated to her.[5] This has served to enhance not only the repertoire for acoustic harp but also for novel settings of harp and electronics, both with tape and with interactive computer, with several of these works becoming part of the harp's core repertoire.[citation needed]
In her Skonhed: En engel gik forbi, the Danish writer
Dorthe Jørgensen mentions Sofia Asunción Claro with her album The Virtuoso Harp (1989) as one of the harpists who induces peacefulness at a time when stress has become an ailment on a par with cancer and heart disease. She appreciates her classical (rather than "fantasy") selection which contains works by the Russian composer
Mikhail Glinka's "Variations on a Theme by Mozart" (1822) and "Pour le Tombeau d'Orphée" (1950) by the Dutch composer Marius Flothuis.[6]
In preparing for the Second Festival of Contemporary Chilean Music in Europe, to be held in Copenhagen in 2003, in collaboration with the Cuban saxophonist
Miguel Villafruela, Asunción Claro worked with several composers, including the Chilean saxophonist
Miguel Villafruela and the Danish flautist
Lars Graugaard. Chilean composers from different decades were selected to create works for the festival. They included
Fernando García (1940s),
Hernán Ramírez (1950s],
Alejandro Guarello [
es] and
Eduardo Cáceres (1960s), Aliocha Solovera and Andrés Ferrari (1970s). Unfortunately, for various reasons the festival could not take place.[7]
Asunción Claro has played in radio broadcasts on
Danmarks Radio since 2010.[8] While in Denmark, she has released works for harp and electronics on the Dacapo label, including a neo-romantic composition by
Ejnar Kanding [
da] to the lyrical "Song of Myself" by
Sunleif Rasmussen.[9][10] She was one of the highlighted artists in the 7 October 2006 – 14 January 2007 "Looking for Jerry" exhibit at the Silkeborg Bad Art Center in Denmark.[11]
Per Nørgård: The colour is dark (1989) - harp solo
Erik Jørgensen: Music for Harp (1988) - harp solo
Selected discography
J.S. Bach, Pescetti, Hindemith, Barfoed; Four Sonatas for the Harp (recital for solo harp); LP, point plp 5077, 1983; cassette, Cuatro Sonatas Para Arpa, CBS KNIA1221
Glinka, Mudarra, Spohr, Albeniz, Schmidt, Britten, Flothuis, Salzedo, van Delden, Ibert; The Virtuoso Harp (recital for solo harp); CD, Fønix Music LC 6607; CD, El Arpa Virtuosa, Sony 4739
Åke Parmerud: Strings & Shadows (harp and tape); CD, Jeu d’Ombres, empreintes digital.es IMED 0367; CD, constellations, Phono Suecia PSCD 91; Prix 94 Ars Electronica, ORF94
Graugaard, Blak, Maegaard, (harp and orchestra); CD, tutl FKT13,
Gabriel Valverde: El Silencio Ya No Es El Silencio (harp solo); CD, Mode mode 94
J.S. Bach, Boccherini, Spohr (harp and flute); cassette, CBS KNIA 1117; Classico CLASSCD 238; CD, Sony 4740
Graugaard: Ophelia In The Garden (harp solo and string orchestra) and The Hand Unveiled (harp solo and symphony orchestra); CD, Classico CLASSCD 187/188
Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen: Catafalque (harp and organ); CD, dacapo 8.224018
References
^Rødland, Sunniva (2010).
Let the Harp Sound!(PDF). The Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowship Programme. p. 10.
^"Various Autores" (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 23 December 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2020.