The International Classical Music Festival “Riga Jurmala”, the opening concerts of which are planned for the weekend from July 16 to 18, has announced that during the festival music students from all over the Baltics will have the opportunity to attend master classes with performers who will perform at the festival this summer.
–
–
Content will continue after the ad
Advertising
–
The next master classes will take place on July 17 at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music with the outstanding Hungarian pianist Sir András Šifs. Three young pianists will take part in the master classes – Kasparas Mikužis (Lithuania), Pāvels Laganovskis (Latvia) and Tāhe Lī Līva (Estonia).
According to the organizers, András Šifs is known as a pianist who has focused on supporting young talents, mainly by offering young and promising musicians the opportunity to perform in his concert series “Building Bridges”. András Schiff is also a lecturer at the Barenboim-Said Academy and the Kronberg Academy, giving regular lectures and conducting master classes. At the festival “Riga Jurmala” he will perform on July 18 in the Dzintari Great Concert Hall together with the Marisa Jansons Festival Orchestra, playing Roberts Schumann’s Piano Concerto with orchestra in laminator (op.54).
“With the idea of organizing master classes for young musicians from the Baltics and elsewhere in the world, the festival team came up last spring. Investing in the education of young musicians is one of the festival’s goals – to leave something to be left. Zane Čulkstēna, executive director of the festival “Rīga Jūrmala”. “Seeing how successful the collaboration with the artists who performed in the first season of the festival was and how open they were to various initiatives, including teaching face-to-face master classes during the festival, announcing the second season of the festival, master classes for young musicians were an integral part.”
On August 6, the master classes will be taught by the famous French violinist Reno Kapisons, on August 28 by pianist Jefim Bronfman, and on September 3 – by pianist Leif Uve Annnes.
With the onset of the pandemic, a rather courageous decision was made to hold master classes remotely, which from today’s perspective might seem obvious, but in the world of classical music there was daring. It was also possible for other interested parties to watch them on the Facebook platform. For the master classes to be successful, the priority was technical performance and sound quality. Almost all students admitted that, although nothing could replace a face-to-face meeting, the feelings are reminiscent of face-to-face master classes, as the undivided attention of the teachers was guaranteed.
“This educational program is organized in cooperation with the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music – for piano, string and wind performers, the world’s greatest conductors and vocal art stars. Also for orchestral musicians who are invited to perform or have already performed at the Riga Jūrmala Music Festival,” says Toms Ostrovskis, Associate Professor of the Piano Department of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and Head of the Riga Jūrmala Academy. “We are pleased that these master classes have earned the attention of both professionals and the press, but most importantly – it provides an opportunity for young musicians to learn from the world’s greatest musicians, establish international contacts and promote the exchange of culture and good practice.”
Since May 2020, more than 90 individual master classes have been held online on Facebook with 28 different teachers, including French violinist Reno Kapapis and baritone Benjamin Apla, cellist Miša Maiska, classical guitar virtuoso MILOŠ, Norwegian pianist Leias Ūves Annsne , soprano Olga Peretjatko and mezzo – soprano Alice Kūta, great pianist Jefima Bronfman and others. The master classes have also been led by orchestra musicians – lecturers from the Royal “Concertgebouw” Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The masterclasses held this year alone have reached almost one hundred thousand viewers online.
This summer, during the “Riga Jurmala” festival, master classes will take place in person, their recordings will be available after the festival. Online masterclasses will resume in September.
–
