Tag Archives: meisterkurs

PIANO and CHAMBER MUSIC – Tomoko Ogasawara (University of Music Freiburg)/Matthias Ranft

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

After studying at the State University of the Arts in Tokyo where she was born, the pianist Tomoko Ogasawara continued her studies in Germany at the University of the Arts in Berlin and the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau, where she received the solo diploma with honors and went on to win 1st Prize in the German Hochschulwettbewerb.

Among her teachers were Georg Sava, Tibor Hazay and Georgy Sebok who influenced her artistic development and led her to early success, for example as finalist in the international competitions “Maria Canals” / Barcelona and “ Clara Haskil” / Montreux.

Since then concert engagements have taken Tomoko Ogasawara to the concert halls of the international music world (such as Berlin, Montreux, London, Paris, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Bangkok, Shanghai). She has played concerts together with Albrecht Mayer, Jörg Widmann and Tabea Zimmermann and regularly plays with the principals and leading musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra and the SWR Orchestra also in the context of chamber music formations, such as the piano trio “Franconia”, the ensemble “Abraxas” and at international festivals such as “Affinis” in Japan.

As soloist Tomoko Ogasawara has played, among others, with the Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bamberg. She is featured in numerous radio broadcasts as well as CD recordings. In the season 2006/2007 Ogasawara performed the complete cycle of piano sonatas by W. A. Mozart.

Currently Tomoko Ogasawara passes on her musical experience through the teaching position she holds at the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau as well as regular master classes in Tokyo and Yokohama. Students of hers have won prizes in both national and international competitions.

The Hamburg born Matthias Ranft received his first cello at the age of seven and while still in high school he started studying at the Conservatory of Music Arthur Troester. His musical education lead him to Freiburg with Christoph Henkel and then later after winning scholarships from the DAAD and the Cultural Society of German Industry he went to study with Janos Starker in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Before his graduating from the Conservatory in Freiburg he had already collected Orchestra experience between 1981 and 1983 as solo cello with the Hofer Symphony and won the 1984 Mendelsson Competition in Berlin.

Since 1985 Ranft has been the first cellist with the Bamberg Symphony/ Bayerish State Philharmonic. On the side he takes regular part in international festivals such as Affinis in Japan. He also concertizes as a chamber musician with the ensemble ABRAXAS, Trio FRANCONIA,  with Jörg Widmann, and with Frank Peter Zimmermann among others. He has also played as soloist under Gilbert Varga, Roger Norrington, Adam Fischer, Lawrence Renes and Jonathan Nott.
His musical accomplishments are shown through countless radio and CD recordings. He has shared his musical experience as a docent at the Freiburg Conservatory from 2001-2004 and at masterclasses throughout Japan. Matthias Ranft plays on a Giovanni Grancino cello from 1695. 

Dates:

Arrival: Saturday, August 10, 2024 from until 2 pm
Closing Concert: Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 7 pm
Departure: Thursday, August 15, 2024 until 2 pm

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands
Chamber Music for Piano and Violoncello          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

For further impression, please visit our venue site.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Ms Ogasawara, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: August 5, 2024

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €550,-

PIANO – Benjamin Moser (Lucern UASA)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

Benjamin Moser came to international attention in June 2007 as a prizewinner in the prestigious Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow, in which he received the prize for the best interpretation of Tchaikovsky, as well as the audience prize. In January of that year he also won first prize in the International Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York, as well as eight additional special prizes and recitals in, among other venues, Paris (Gulbenkian Centre), Washington (Kennedy Centre) and New York (Carnegie Zankel Recital Hall).

Since then, Benjamin has performed regularly, both in solo recital, and as soloist with orchestra. These performances include the Tchaikvsky concerto at the Dubrovnik Festival, concertos by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt and Tchaikovsky in the Munich Herkulesaal and in the Alte Oper Frankfurt with the Munich Symphony Orchestra. He performed Rachmaninov’s Paganini Variations with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He played Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Andris Nelsons. He has also played this concerto in the Tonhalle Zurich, with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic with conductor Wojciech Rajski, and for the Marienbad Chopin Festival. In addition, he has played concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Grieg and Rachmaninov and recitals with works by Bach through to contemporary composers throughout the US and in Argentina, Germany, England, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

As guest performer, Benjamin Moser has been invited to many important festivals, including the Bodensee Festival, the Alpenklassik Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Klavierfestival Ruhr (to which he was reinvited six times), and to the YCA chamber music festival in Tokyo and Beijing. 

Concerts in 2015 included 6 Mozart concertos in Japan, the Mozart double concerto with the MDR Radio Orchestra and several others. In March 2016 he played his solo debut recital at the London Wigmore Hall. He also enjoys playing chamber music. He has played several concerts with various ensembles, collaborating with highly-regarded soloists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Julian Steckel and his brother, Johannes Moser. 

In 2009 Benjamin made his debut recording with a CD of Russian piano music (with works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Medtner and Prokofiev) with Munich-based label OehmsClassics, to critical acclaim. His second CD with French piano music by Debussy and Ravel was released in 2012, again through OehmsClassics and received excellent reviews. His third album with the final sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert was released in spring 2015 under the AvI Classics label and received rave reviews (among them the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato magazine). His newest CD with works by Gershwin, Wild and Mussorgskij was released in May 2019. 

He recorded Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Bamberg Symphony for the Bavarian radio. Many of his concerts have been recorded by radio stations, by the BR, SWR, RBB, Deutschlandfunk, Radio WQXR New York among others.

The young pianist, born in 1981 in Munich, hails from a family of musicians. He commenced his studies as a teenager at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich with Professor Michael Schäfer, before continuing with Professor Klaus Hellwig at the Universität der Künste Berlin.He was also greatly inspired by his work with Dimitry Bashkirov, Fu Tsong, Stanislav Ioudenitch and since 2012 Alfred Brendel in London. During his studies in Berlin he won first prize in the Artur-Schnabel piano competition in Berlin and in 2003 he was a recipient of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes’ scholarship. In 2005 he received the Steinway Prize Berlin. He was also a recipient of scholarships from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Deutsche Musikrat. 

Since March 2019 Benjamin has been teaching his own piano class as a professor at the Lucerne UASA in Switzerland.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, August 31st, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, September 3rd, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, September 4, 2023, until 2 pm

Course Description:

preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Contemporary Music; Piano solo

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Mr. Moser, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: July 31st, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €520,-

ART SONG “Conteporary Music is not dissonant per se”- Prof. Hendrik Bräunlich (University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” Leipzig)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

Hendrik Bräunlich, was born in Leipzig. Prof. Bräunlich’s pianistic talent, as well as his general involvement in music have been nurtured since early childhood.

From 1986 to 1992 he studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Music Conservatory) “Felix Mendelssohn Bertholdy” in Leipzig with emphasis on vocal accompaniment, piano solo and instrumental accompaniment.  There, under the tutelage of Maestro Eugen Wangler, he developed a love for the singing voice, and a passion for accompanying it.

From 1992 to 1997 he studied song interpretation in the postgraduate program at the same conservatory with Lied professor and mentor Prof. Karl-Peter Kammerlander,  During this same period he was given the opportunity to work privately with Charles Spencer, with whom he studied most extensively, and Prof. Hartmut Höll – both great lied interpreters. In addition, he accompanied master classes of well-known singers such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Schreier, Thomas Hampson and Jakob Stämpfli.  Mr. Stämpli, impressed with his work, invited him to accompany a master class in Sion (Suisse) during the Tibor Varga Festival.

Prof. Bräunlich’s success at the Varga Festival as well as his association with other famous artists led to additional invitations to accompany international singing competitions  such as the Schumann in Zwickau and the Bach in Leipzig. Charles Spencer used his influence to introduce Mr. Bräunlich to world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Christa Ludwig, with whom he became associated for many years – accompanying her master classes in Gumpoldskirchen near Vienna, Wiener Musikverein, Villecroze in France and a national conference of German-speaking singing teachers in Halle/Saale,) to name a few.

Prof. Bräunlich’s accompanying skills were indeed also acknowledged by the fact that he himself became a prize-winner: in 1993 he won the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Prize in Berlin,  and in the same year, the accompanying prize at the International Singing Competition in Tauberbischofsheim. In 1994 he received an award at the International Brahms Singing Competition in Hamburg, and in the 1997 Deutscher Musikwettbewerb awarded him a scholarship. In 1998 he was prize-winner at the first International Hilde Zadek Singing Competition in Passau.

The attention generated by these German music competitions enabled Prof. Bräunlich to start a concert career.  It also resulted in repeated invitations to accompany the above-mentioned competitions and master classes.

Prof. Bräunlich has recorded for all major German broadcasters. He has also participated in various CD projects, including the first recording of Lieder by Georg Göhler.  Other CD recordings include “Hausmusik bei Schumanns” with the Calmus Vocal Ensemble Leipzig, and the award-winning CD of the clarinetist Nicola Jürgensen.

In 1992 Prof. Bräunlich was offered a permanent full-time teaching position at the Leipzig Conservatory; the association with this institution continues to this day.  The pedagogical commitment he has to his students, and his support of their individual development is obviously enriched by his personal history of performing and accompanying.

In 2005, under the auspices of the ERASMUS exchange program, he was invited – together with Leipzig Conservatory Voice Prof. Dr. Jeanette Favaro-Reuter – to participate in coaching Lieder of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy at the Royal College of Music in London. During this period he also tought during the  Leipzig Summer Courses of Puccini’s “Tosca” as well as master classes of clarinettist Allan Key and Prof. Dr. Favaro-Reuter.

Over the last years Prof. Bräunlich has offered classes, free of charge, at the Leipzig Conservatory with primary emphasis on Piano Lied literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has offered addition classes on topics such as “Robert Schumann´s Lieder” and “Claude Debussy´s Lieder and Chants”.

His involvement with 20th and 21st century Lied has led Prof. Bräunlich to an even greater concentration on contemporary music. In 2022, together with soprano Lisa Fornhammar, he developed a special New Music Program. The theme for the 2023/24 session is “New Music is not per se dissonant”.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, July 20, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, July 23, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, July 24, 2023, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Dieser Kurs möchte nach Möglichkeit mit Duos arbeiten. Diese können wir auch gemeinsam zusammenstellen. Wobei es nicht darauf ankommt, ob jede teilnehmende Person nur mit einer anderen Person zusammenarbeitet. Es können gerade die Pianistinnen. zw. Pianisten auch mit mehreren Gesangspartnerinnen bzw. -partnern zusammen musizieren.

So habe ich es selbst bei Wettbewerben während der Runden mit einigen Teilnehmenden zu tun gehabt, was meine Qualität nicht minderte. Meine Idee ist folgende: Jeder teilnehmende  Person sucht sich eine bis zwei Liedgruppen aus und bereitet diese vor. Dann können wir während der Kurstage an den Liedern arbeiten und das Erarbeitete zum Schluss in einem Abschlusskonzert vorstellen.

Dies setzt voraus, dass jeder seine Stücke handwerklich gut parat hat, um damit arbeiten zu können. Die Programmfolge des Konzertes sollte dann auch der meiner Ankündigung entsprechen.

Repertoire: Neue Musik ist nicht per se dissonant

Ich habe ein Programm zusammengestellt, welches den tonalen Aspekt der Stücke in den Mittelpunkt rückt. Denn wir sind es gewohnt, nach atonalen Klängen meist eine Auflösung in Form einer Konsonanz zu erwarten. Und diese gibt es in erstaunlich vielen Liedern der Neuen Musik.

Das Programm beginnt mit drei Liedern aus den „Walzergesängen, Op. 6“ von Alexander von Zemlinsky. Diese sind, wie er selbst äußerte, nicht modern, sondern im Spätromantischen verwurzelt.

Nr. 1 Liebe Schwalbe
Nr. 5 Blaues Sternlein
Nr. 6 Briefchen schrieb ich

Danach zwei Brettl-Lieder des Entdeckers der Dodekaphonie, Arnold Schönberg. Diese insgesamt acht Lieder (zwischen April und September 1901 komponiert) gehen auf sein Engagement als Leiter de Berliner Cabaretts Überbrettl zurück.

Zwei davon habe ich ausgewählt: Gigerlette und Arie aus dem Spiegel von Arkadien

Darauf folgen die vielleicht berühmtesten Schüler, nämlich Anton von  Webern und Alban Berg. Zuerst Webern. Er kommt, wie auch sein Lehrer und sein Mitschüler Berg, aus der Tradition der Wiener Spätromantik. Nur in wenigen  Klängen meint man das Kommende zu hören, eher zu ahnen, die musikalische Struktur steht noch ganz im Zeichen der Tradition: Vorfrühling, Blumengruss, Fromm und Heiter

Dann Alban Berg, dem Romantiker der Zweiten Wiener Schule. Von ihm habe ich die quasi nicht explizit „Neuen Lieder“ ausgewählt, nämlich aus den “Sieben frühen Liedern: Die Nachtigall  und Im Zimmer.

Der „zweiten Wiener Schule“ folgt ein anderer österreichischer Komponist, Gottfried von Einem. Von ihm habe ich ein Lied gewählt aus seinen „Zwölf Tag- und Nachtliedern“. Das Stück „Eine Treppe abwärts steigend“ zeigt seine Individualität gut und vermittelt trotzdem nicht das Quere der Neuen Musik.

Nach dem ersten Teil mit ausschließlich deutschsprachigen Tonsetzern gibt es einen zweiten Teil mit amerikanischen Komponisten. Diese haben sich , vor allem nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg, eine guten Ruf gemacht im ansonsten eher prüden Amerika: Zuerst ein Komponist mit sizilianischen Wurzeln, Dominick Argento. Er fühte sich zeitlebens zur Musik George Gershwins und zur amerikanischen Vokalmusik hingezogen. Von ihm habe ich aus seinem Zyklus “Six Elizabethan Songs” folgende ausgesucht: Diaphenia und Hymn

Ihm folgt ein eher sich der leichteren Klassik verpflichtender Musiker, Marc Blitzstein. Er komponierte häufig für den Film und so habe ich gedacht, diese besondere Farbe mit ins Programm zu nehmen. Der Song „I wish it so“ steht ganz in der Linie der für den Film geschaffenen Titel. Nach Blitzstein folgt ein unter anderem mit dem Pulitzer-Preis ausgezeichneten Samuel Barber ein weiterer Amerikaner. Er war nicht nur Komponist, sondern auch Bariton. Und vielleicht hat er deshalb seine Lieder so eingänhig komponiert.

Zuerst „Sure of this shining night“, dann das wesentlich düsterere „The Crucifiction“. Zum Schluss noch ein weiterer sehr wichtiger und bedeutender amerikanischer Komponist, Leonard Bernstein.

Dieser, aus jüdischer Familie stammend, war ein extrem erfolgreicher Musikvermittler. Und als Komponist ist uns allen wahrscheinlich seine „West Side Story“ bekannt, einer Musical-Oper. Aber er hat auch Lieder vertont, unter anderem den Zyklus „I hate music“. Und aus diesem habe ich den namensgebenden Titelsong ausgewählt.

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Bräunlich, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: July 1st, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation):

Per Participant: €450,-
As Duo: €800,-

PIANO – Prof. Heribert Koch (Münster University of Music)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Marc Jones

Heribert Koch initially received his training at the Universities of Music in Cologne and Karlsruhe and attended master classes with renowned musicians, among others with Tatjana Nikolajewa and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Finally, the encounter with Peter Feuchtwanger, with whom he continued his studies in London, became particularly formative and Heribert Koch subsequently assisted him on his master classes.

The international Piano Journal, which recently published an extensive portrait of him, describes him as „one of the most inspiring and creative pianist-teachers working in Europe today“.

Beyond concert programmes with major works from the standard repertoire, he frequently performs unfamiliar compositions, often presenting them in the form of lecture recitals. In this context he also acts as an editor. He received particular recognition for his profound research about César Franck, whose early piano works he made accessible to musicologists and performing musicians in well-respected first editions (publisher Dohr, Cologne).

Heribert Koch is a member of the Presidium of the EPTA Germany (European Piano Teachers Association) and served as European President of the Association in the seasons 2012/13 and 2019/20. He regularly acts as a juror of renowned competitions, gives master classes and is a sought-after speaker at international conferences.

Internationally successful pianists emerged from his piano class at the Münster University of Music, who were able to achieve numerous awards and can be heard in some of the most renowned concert venues worldwide.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, April 3rd, 2025, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, April 6, 2025, 5 pm 
Departure: Monday, April 7, 2025, until 2 pm

Course Description:

Preparation for auditions, exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo works from all periods

Languages:

German, English, French

Special:

In addition to working individually with the participants, Heribert Koch will also offer joint group lessons in which he will introduce special piano exercises for a flexible, refined technique.

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Koch, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: March 3, 2025

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €450,-

PIANO – Prof. Klaus Sticken (Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Martin Teschner

Klaus Sticken is a versatile and distinctive pianist with over 25 years of concert experience. He performs in such venues as the Tonhalle Zurich, the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, the Philharmonie in Kiev, the Megaron in Athens, the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Musikhalle in Hamburg. His successes in the Concours Clara Haskil in Vevey, the Grand Prix Maria Callas in Athens and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan led, amongst other engagements, to concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre Lausanne, the Ukraine State Orchestra and the Berlin Symphonic and Moscow Symphonic Orchestras. He undertakes concert tours throughout Europe and in the Far East.

His creative engagement with piano music is well displayed in the theme-based recitals for various radio stations, the Deutschlandradio, Radio Suisse Romande and Westdeutsche, Mitteldeutsche and Hessische Rundfunk and others. Sticken also works with experimentally minded partners such as the Kuss Quartet or the author and pianist Cord Garben and tries out new methods of presenting music and text with the poet Oskar Ansull. Recordings for the CD label Thorofon and many radio productions of seldom heard masterpieces by Clementi, Reubke, Strauss, Martin, Honegger, Korngold and Rota provide evidence of the wide-ranging nature of his repertoire.

Through his teachers Vladimir Krainev, Vitaly Margulis, Gyorgy Sebok and Alfred Brendel Klaus Sticken has become familiar with very varied approaches to music. Besides his concert activity serves as a professor of piano at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, Oktober 26, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, October 29, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, October 30, 2023, until 12 am

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Sticken, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: October 22nd, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €500,-

PIANO – Prof. Konrad Engel (Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Irène Zandel

Born in the region of Frankfurt/Main, Konrad Maria Engel grew up in a mainly scientifically oriented family. However it came clear already during his early childhood that music would be his vocation some day. More than a dozen scholarships, awards and many prizes at international competitions reinforced that impression over the years, most importantly to mention the German National Music Competition, Bach-Competition Leipzig and a first prize at the international Chopin-Competition Hanover.

His concert career – now almost 40 years of stage experience – took him all over the northern hemisphere, across Europe, Asia and the US. As a soloist he performed with numerous renowned orchestras and at several international festivals. His repertoire did never exclude any style or period and included all kinds of keyboards from cembalo to fortepiano and various historic grand pianos.

Since his younger days Konrad Engel is also very much dedicated to chamber music and Kunstlied. Just to mention a few long term highlights, there was the applauded „Trio Corrado” together with Konradin Seitzer (Violin) and Konrad Haesler (Cello) as well as various performances together with Leonid Gorokhov, Markus Becker, Mareike Morr, Sharon Kam and many other renowned partners. Beyond that he was member of bigger ensembles as well as conducting two chamber orchestras for several years.

Over the last two decades he discovered his great passion for teaching and rather focused his career on education since several years. After getting first experiences in teaching at the municipal music school Hanover, a lectureship at the University for Arts Bremen in 2011 was an important leap.

From 2012 to 2018 he held a substitutional professorship at Hanover Music University, where he first got in touch with the education of highly talented young students. In 2017 he got a full professorship at the University „Hanns Eisler“ Berlin and the honour to become head of piano department at the „Musikgymnasium C.P.E. Bach“ in addition.

By now amongst his students are many prizewinners at international competitions such as Sendai/Japan, Aarhus/Denmark, Mendelssohn/Berlin, Schumann/Zwickau, Liszt/Weimar etc.

He started his own academic studies in music education at Hannover Music University and

finished his third Diploma with the „Konzertexamen“ in 2006 after being a student of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling for many years. His education was also enriched by important impulses from John O’Conor (Wilhelm-Kempff-Academy Positano), Bernhard Wetz and Gerhard Schroth (Frankfurt) as well as chamber music lessons by Vassilia Efstathiadou, Antje Weithaas, Grainne Dunne.

In his sparse free time Konrad Engel is interested in many other subjects, such as astronomy and technology but also visual arts, history and philosophy – never to forget about classic cars.

His motto actually couldn’t be described better than in Eisler’s words: „Who seeks to understand music only, won’t understand music at all.“

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, August 17, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: August 20, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: August  21st, 2023, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Engel, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: July 17, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €450,-

PIANO – Prof. Jacob Leuschner (Hochschule für Musik Detmold)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Sudi, Detmold

Jacob Leuschner, 
born in Freiburg in 1974, studied in Freiburg and Lübeck. His most important teachers were Helmut Barth, Michel Béroff, Konrad Elser and Leonard Hokanson.

Since 1989, he has performed as a soloist and sought-after chamber musician in many European countries, Japan, South Korea, China and the USA, and has been invited to numerous international festivals. He has been a regular participant in the funding project Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler (Federal Selection Concerts Young Artists) held by Deutscher Musikrat.

The awards he has won at major piano competitions testify to his artistic stature: Viotti (Vercelli), Beethoven (Vienna), Schubert (Dortmund), Mozart (Salzburg), Leeds, Rina Sala Gallo (Monza), Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Deutscher Hochschulwettbewerb – to name just the most important ones.

He is also the recipient of the Possehl Music Prize, the Kai-Uwe von Hassel Prize and the
Wiesbaden Mozart Prize.


Jacob Leuschner taught at the University of Music Lübeck, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar. From 2008 to 2014, he held a professorship at the University of Music in Cologne, and then followed a call to join the University of Music in Detmold. He regularly gives masterclasses in many European countries, Japan, China and Korea.

His repertoire ranges from the Virginalists to the present; one focus is the masters of Viennese classical music. He has performed the complete cycles of Mozart’s, Beethoven’s and Schubert’s piano sonatas at several occasions.
He also works as a juror at international piano competitions and as a publisher, and has dealt intensively with historical keyboard instruments. He is the founder and artistic director of the Brahms Piano Competition in
Detmold.

His discography includes not only numerous chamber music pieces, such as the complete works for cello and piano by Reger with Guido Schiefen (Oehms Classics), but also the late Beethoven sonatas and Liszt transcriptions. In addition to two solo CDs, he released a complete recording of Mozart’s sonatas for piano and violin in 2017 with violinist Keiko Urushihara (Nippon Acoustic Records), which was met with enthusiasm by the Japanese trade press and awarded the "Excellence Award" by the Japanese State Office for Culture.

In 2019, his recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations was published by the label „Perfect noise“.

Today, Jacob Leuschner is one of the most distinguished and versatile German pianists of his generation.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, September 7, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, September 10, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, September 11, 2023, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Leuschner, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: August 14, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €450,-

PIANO – Prof. Patrick O’Byrne (University of the Arts Bremen)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

© Artem Yasynskyy

Pianist Patrick O’Byrne was appointed in 1985 to a professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart, assuming later the senior chair at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen.

His concert performances worldwide have included appearances with renowned orchestras and illustrious conductors, among others the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Bochumer Sinfoniker, the New York Virtuosi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Sir Charles Groves, Franz-Paul Decker and Albert Rosen. Born in Dublin and raised in New Zealand, the pianist has received international awards for his interpretations of French, Spanish and contemporary music. His repertoire encompasses all styles.
 

파 트 릭 오 번 – Patrick O ’B yrne

Biography
더블린 태생 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 대학졸업
퀸 엘리자베스 2세 예술 장학금, 영국 런던과 파리, 국립 프라이부르크 대학졸업
(독일 DAAD 장학금)
Rosa Sabater, Alicia de Larrocha, Kendall Taylor, Vlado Perlemuter사사

1978년 뉴질랜드 음악대상, 동경 국제 콩쿨, 스페인 Jaén 콩쿨,
영국 Dudley 콩쿨, 마요르카 콩쿨 입상,1983년 José Iturbi 국제 콩쿨 대상.
스페인 음악대상, 국제비평가상

New York Virtuosi, Bochumer Sinfoniker, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, RTE Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra 등 유명오케스트라와 협연 및 TV 및 라디오 녹음 출연.

독일 국립 슈투트가르트 음대 교수 및 부학장 역임.
브레맨 국립음대 교수 및 학장 역임

그의 피아노 테크닉과 해석은 많은 국제 콩쿨 및 유명 마스터클래스에서 탁월한 교수
법과 해석으로 정평이 나 있으며, 훌륭한 제자들을 키워내고 있다.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, June 1st, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, June 4, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, June 5, 2023, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. O’Byrne, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: May 22nd, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €520,-

帕特里克·奥比恩 (Patrick O’Byrne）出生于都柏林 毕业于新西兰奥克兰大学

曾获伊丽莎白女王二世艺术奖学金，英国伦敦和巴黎毕业于弗莱堡国立大学 (德国DAAD奖学金)。 曾与 Janetta McStay、Rosa Sabater、Alicia de Larrocha、Kendall Taylor、Vlado Perlemuter等人 一起学习。

曾获（个人荣誉经历）： 1978 新西兰音乐奖，东京国际比赛，西班牙哈恩比赛，
1983年英国达德利比赛大奖、马略卡岛比赛大奖、何塞·伊图尔比国际比赛大奖、 西班牙音乐奖、国际评论家奖。

曾与纽约Virtuosi、波鸿交响乐团、德国室内爱乐乐团、新西兰交响乐团、奥克兰爱乐乐团、RTE交响乐团、KBS交响乐团等著名乐团合作，并出现在电视和广播唱片中。

录制并发行了多张室内乐CD，包括拉威尔所有歌曲、Granados (Goyescas) 和莫扎特钢琴协奏曲。
曾于德国斯图加特音乐大学担任教授兼副校长。
于德国不来梅国立音乐大学担任教授兼院长。

他的钢琴技法和理解在许多国际比赛和著名大师班（美国、日本、巴西、意大利、中国、韩国等国家）中以出色的教学方法和解说而出名，培养出了大批优秀的学生。

 

VIOLIN – Prof. Marianne Boettcher (Berlin University of the Arts)/Kensei Yamaguchi

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

Marianne Boettcher, violinist from the famous Berlin musician family, studied in Berlin under Professor Willy Kirch and Professor Michael Schwalbé, rounding off her studies in Geneva under Professor Henryk Szeryng. She teaches at the University of the Arts Berlin. She has gotten great recognition for playing classic and romantic music and has also become known as an interpreter of new music. She has given the first performances of many works written for her by contemporary composers.

She has won many prizes and has made a number of recordings for radio, television and the records industry in Germany and abroad. Extended concert tours have taken her repeatedly to the USA, Japan, Russia and almost every other country in Europe (for example in Rheinsberg, Prague, Vienna and Tallinn). She has also been a frequent guest performer at the Berlin Festival, the International Heinrich Schütz Festival in Sweden, the German Bach Festival in Berlin and the Vienna Festival.

The german president Johannes Rau awarded her 2003 the The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Kensei Yamaguchi started playing piano at age five. At twelve, he won the All Japan Student Music Competition, which allowed him to join the Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, the most prestigious music school in Japan, under the direction of Professor Hiroko Edo. Upon graduation he received a German National Scholarship to further pursue his studies at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, under Professors Erich Andreas and Pascal Devoyon.

Mr.Yamaguchi has participated in numerous international piano competitions. He is the winner of Third Prize in Porto International Piano Competition, Portugal (1998), First Prize at Senigallia International Piano Competition, Italy (1999), and of the prestigious First Prize at Monte Carlo Piano Masters, Monaco (2000).

His numerous concert activities include solo performances with Das Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Filarmonica Marchigiana, Italy, Monte Carlo Orchestre Philharmonique, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In addition he has appeared in solo recitals and chamber music concerts in most European countries, Japan, and the USA.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, April 27, 2023, until 12 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, April 31st, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, May 1st, 2023, until 12 pm

Course Description:

preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

works for violin from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Boettcher, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

NB: The total number of participants is limited to eight musicians.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: March 27, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee: €200,-
Accommodation/Facility Fee (obligatory): €200,-

VIOLA – Prof. Piotr Szumieł (Rostock University of Music and Drama)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

Piotr Szumieł, born in Warsaw in 1977, belongs to the group of the most versatile violists of his generation. At a young age he was the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes at international competitions, including winning the Jan Rakowski Viola Competition in Poznan in 1998, the special prize at the 36th International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen in 2001, a 2nd prize at the 9th International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2002 in Pörtschach (Austria) and 3rd prize at the Vienna International Viola Competition in 2004.

Between 2002 and 2008 he was a member and principal violist of the Dresden Philharmonic and the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and is a sought-after juror and teacher on master classes. Piotr Szumiel has been doing very intensive educational work for many years – he is a lecturer for viola and chamber music at the College of Music „Carl Maria von Weber” (since 2005), between 2013-2018 he was a lecturer at the “Karol Szymanowski” Academy of Music in Katowice and from October 2019 at the University of Music and Drama in Rostock, where he has been a professor since April 2020.

Piotr Szumieł has played in London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Wiener Musikverein, Megaron in Athens, the Cologne Philharmonie, Citè de la musique Paris, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Konserthuset Stockholm, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Warsaw Philharmonic and much more…

As a chamber musician, he has worked together with the following artists: Alena Baeva, Martin Fröst, Gabriela Montero, István Várdai, Garrick Ohlsson, Vadym Kholodenko, Valentin Erben, Nils Mönkemeyer, Kevin Kenner, Igor Levit, Per Arne Glorvigen, Jörg Widmann, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Polina Leschenko, Ewa Kupiec.

As a soloist, Piotr Szumieł works with conductors such as José Maria Florêncio, Vladimir Kiradjiew, Anu Tali, Gérard Korsten, Hugh Wolf, Teowyn Evans, Ernst Kovacic, Petri Sakri, Baldur Bronnimann and has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Dresden Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Dresden, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice.

Piotr Szumieł studied at the „Fryderyk Chopin” Music Academy in his hometown in the viola class of Prof. Stefan Kamasa, where he graduated with distinction in 2001. Later, he continued his viola studies with Prof. Wolfgang Klos and chamber music with Prof. Johannes Meissl at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he also graduated with distinction in 2010.

In addition to his solo and didactic activities, he devotes himself intensively to the “Apollon Musagète Quartet”, founded in 2006. In the two years of its existence, this ensemble has not only gained outstanding recognition from critics, but also from the juries of major music competitions. After winning international music competitions in Vienna and Florence, the quartet quickly established itself as a fixture on the European music scene after receiving the 1st prize and almost all special prizes at the 57th ARD International Music Competition.

Piotr Szumieł is the recipient of the “Young Poland” scholarship program of the Minister for Culture and National Heritage and the “Burletti Buitoni Trust Award” (2014) for outstanding artistic achievements with the “Apollon Musagete Quartet”.

The artist conducted workshops and master classes in Austria, Germany, Hong Kong and Poland. He took part in the work of the jury at international viola and chamber music competitions in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Katowice and Meissen.

Dates: 
Arrival: Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022, until 12 pm
Closing concert: Friday, May 6, 2022, 7 pm
Departure: Saturday, May 7, 2022, until 12 pm

Contents: preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire: Works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

For further impression, please visit our venue site.

This masterclass is already fully booked. Further applications are not possible.