March 2014 Master classes at Liszt Academy

The master class series of the Liszt Academy in March is launched by violinist Zakhar Bron. Only BA, MA and DLA students of the Liszt Academy are allowed to apply for the classes to be held from Thursday afternoon to Saturday midday, 6-8 March 2014. Participation may be active or as an observer. One of the finest practitioners of the Russian school of violin, Bron has toured the world as a concert artist, from Vienna to Tokyo, he has worked with Yehudi Menuhin and Maris Jansons, and recorded a whole series of remarkable albums. He started lessons in Novosibirsk, and then went on to teach at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the academies of music in Rotterdam, Lübeck, Cologne and Zürich. Currently he is professor in Cologne and Madrid, at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia. His students include such internationally acclaimed violinists as Vadim Repin, Gwendolyn Masin and Maxim Vengerov. The Zakhar Bron Liszt Academy master classes will be held in Room X of the academy's main building on Liszt Ferenc Square. Applications can be made to szabo.agnes[at]lisztacademy.hu or ohegyi.erzsebet@lisztacademy.hu (DLA candidates).

Emmanuel Pahud (photo: Josef Fischnaller)

Emmanuel Pahud, solo flautist with the Berliner Philharmoniker, holds a master class for students of the Liszt Academy and anyone else who is interested on the morning of 9 March.  The class will be in the Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music. The Geneva-born artist graduated summa cum laude from the Paris Conservatoire in 1990, and at the age of 22 (as the youngest member of the ensemble) he became first flautist with the Berliner Philharmoniker, then under the direction of Claudio Abbado. He has also had a glittering career as soloist and chamber player: he regularly performs with the world's leading symphony and chamber orchestras, and under the baton of the top conductors, in Europe, the United States and the Far East. He will also give a concert in Budapest as soloist of the Hungarian National Philharmonic in the 2013/14 season. Emmanuel Pahud is not only at home in the classics: he regularly accompanies jazz pianist Jacky Terrasson on excursions into the world of jazz. He has said that he will not undertake a teaching post alongside performing, although he does accept the occasional master class invitation while touring. Earlier he revealed the secrets of the flautist's art: "The instrument allows me to put what I think and feel into musical form. Although the instrument is important, the most important thing is the performer. The work must be completed before blowing into the instrument. Everything depends on how the player controls their muscles and their lungs, how they use the various cavities in their skull and upper body to produce the sound they imagine in their mind." Emmanuel Pahud holds his master class in the Liszt Academy after his Budapest concert with the Hungarian National Philharmonic. Only students of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music may take part in the class on 9 March as active participants; however, all who wish just to listen are welcome to apply to bnagy.judit[at]lisztacademy.hu by 6 March at the latest.

Fabio di Casola (photo: Marco Borggreve)

Clarinettist and professor at the Zürich University of the Arts Fabio di Casola holds his master class in the Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music between 10-11 March 2014. In 1990, at the age of just 23, Di Casola won the Geneva International Music Competition. Numerous invitations followed this triumph, among them from such greats as Abbado, Rostropovich and Gidon Kremer. He was voted Musician of the Year in Switzerland in 1998, and Sony release his recordings that have garnered considerable international attention. He regularly gives concerts with the leading chamber orchestras of Europe, he is asked to sit on the selection panels of international competitions, he holds master classes and has been artistic director of the Klang-Musiktage auf Schloss Meggenhorn chamber music festival since 2006. During the two-day master class the Swiss clarinettist will teach senior Liszt Academy students of professors Béla Kovács, Zsolt Szatmári and István Varga. Participation is free for students of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, while outsiders may apply as passive students (HUF 2500/day). To make an application, please fill out the form here and submit it by 7 March 2014.

Between 10-14 March Claudio Di Segni, professor of the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, Rome, will hold a singing master class in Room X of the academy. In the course of his career the famous artist has sung virtually all the lyrical tenor roles, not only in his homeland but throughout Europe. He enjoyed a close working relationship with Luciano Pavarotti, with whom he worked on the technical and interpretation problems and challenges of lyrical tenor roles. In the framework of a cooperation agreement with the Liszt Academy the professor undertook a special project in December 2013: the master and his students gave a highly successful concert in Rome from popular lyrical melodies and works by young composers from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. As the continuation of this cooperation, students of the two universities – using the occasion of Professor Di Segni's master class in Budapest – will also perform this programme starting at 6 pm on 10 March 2014 in Room X of the academy (admission is free of charge with no designated seating; maximum capacity: 49 persons). Students of the Liszt Academy can participate on the four-day course of maestro Di Segni for free; outsiders can attend on payment of HUF 3000/class (for those wishing to participate actively), and HUF 2000/day for observer-only status. Applications must be made to borzi.zoltan[at]lisztacademy.hu.

The master class of Thomas Müller-Pering, professor of guitar at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, will be arranged in Room X of the main building between 17-19 March 2014. Born in 1958, the artist completed his studies in Cologne under the tutelage of Tadashi Sasaki, and he also took part in master classes by John Williams, José Tomás, Oscar Ghiglia and Siegfried Behrend. In 1983 he won the Chilean Viña del Mar international guitar competition, he has appeared at dozens of concert halls throughout the world, and he is associated with significant recordings: for instance, working in partnership with Manuel Barroeco, he recorded Enrique Granados's work ‘Danzas Españolas', and he also worked on guitars duets by Anton Diabelli. The master class is free of charge, although it is only open to students of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (applications to kirkosa.adam[at]lisztacademy.hu by 10 March).

There will be further master classes in the Liszt Academy in the coming weeks starring, for instance, a leading figure of Hungarian early music ensembles Dinyés Soma, harpsichordist, Jindřich Petráš, horn player, professor of the Janáček Academy, Brno, and soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and Miklós Perényi, cellist. In addition, the chamber music course for doctoral students run by Gábor Takács-Nagy continues.

Details of these master classes can be found by clicking on the links and going to the university website of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Concerning the coming months' programmes, president of the American Liszt Society Thomas Mastrioanni will stage an interactive course complete with screening on 8-9 April 2014, with the focus on Liszt's Sonnets of Petrarch and other music inspired by literature. One of the master classes in May 2014 is an oboe course by Nicholas Daniel, and in June it is the turn of Pekka Kuusisto.