Master Class in Singing with Christoph Prégardien

Christoph Prégardien

Target Groups: students, amateur singers, Lieder duos

Languages: German, English

Course location: Chesa da Cultura, Via Dimlej 44, CH-7500 St. Moritz

Master Class in Singing with Christoph Prégardien
The course is intended for young singers, who are still studying or at the very beginning of their career, and experienced amateur singers. Lied duos preparing competition or concert programmes are always welcome, too. The course programme can be freely chosen from the international repertoire of lieder, cantatas, oratorios, operas, and operettas. The emphasis will be on understanding and interpreting the musical and emotional contents of the literature chosen. In parallel, we shall focus on the basics of singing technique, voice training, breathing control, voice leading, voice use, and the vocals of speech while singing. Christoph Prégardien will be present at Chesa da Cultura as Artist-in-Residence throughout the entire week. The master class will begin on November 27^th 2022, at 6 p.m. with a joint dinner. The final matinée concert will take place on December 4^th, 2022, at 11 a.m. Pianist Christoph Schnackertz will rehearse with the participants and accompany them at the piano for the final concert.

Christoph Prégardien, born in Limburg in 1956, is one of the most important lyrical tenors of our time. The German star tenor pairs his clear and precise leading voice and his intelligent interpretation and diction with the ability to get to the psychological core of a role. His interpretations as a lied singer are particularly appreciated. He performs as a soloist with all major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonics and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. His long years of experience as a singer of the great Evangelist roles and his intensive work with renowned conductors of our time are proof of his eminent talent and musical experience. A large part of his repertoire is documented on more than 150 recordings and by awards such as the Orphée d’Or, Edison Award, Cannes Classical Award, and Diapason d’or. An important aspect of Christoph Prégardien’s musical work is his teaching. Along with several years as a lecturer at the Zurich University of Music and Theatre, he has also been teaching as a Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music since 2004 and holds master classes all over the world. 

Christoph Schnackertz, born 1984, studied Piano and Instrumental Pedagogics with Profs. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Jürgen Glauss. He also is a prize winner of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition. Since 2005, the pianist has been significantly inspired by his work as an accompanist of Prof. Christoph Prégardien’s class in Singing. He also performs with the WDR Radio Choir, the Collegium Vocale Gent, and others. Christoph Schnackertz is also teaching Lied Interpretation at the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance. 

Interpretation Course: J S Bach’s Cello Suites and Cello-Ensemble Workshop

Albert Roman

Target Groups: cellists, students, pupils

Languages: German, French, English, Romansh

Course location: Chesa da Cultura, Via Dimlej 44, CH-7500 St. Moritz

Interpretation Course: J S Bach’s Cello Suites and Cello-Ensemble Workshop with Albert Roman
The interpretation course focuses on the Six Suites for Cello Solo by J S Bach. Individual lessons will deal with the musical and instrument-specific problems of the suites. Work analyses of the six suites within the context of music history are intended to promote understanding of the various possibilities of interpreting Bach’s cello suites. Participants interested in the ensemble workshop may form groups at the beginning of the course and get to know the available cello-ensemble literature. All cellists will play in Bach’s Art of the Fugue. The workshop will open with a convivial dinner on October 8th, 2022, at 6 p.m. The closing concert will take place on October 14th, 2022, at 8.30 p.m.

Albert Roman, a native of St. Moritz, Switzerland, began playing cello at an early age. He studied with such renowned cellists as André Navarra, Pierre Fournier, Mstislav Rostropovich, Paul Tortelier, and Janós Starker. Two first prizes in international music competitions marked the beginning of a busy career, in the course of which he has given concerts and master classes throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. His repertory as a soloist includes more than 100 concertos, and has given the first performance of cello works composed for him. Among his numerous recordings, specially to be mentioned the Cello Concerto No. 2 by Rudolf Moser as soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra and the CD with the complete works for cello solo by J S Bach. For his contribution in promoting talented young musicians in China, he received the “Friendship Award 1999” of the People‘s Republic of China. He is a guest professor at the music academies of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi’an, Conductor of the Swiss China Cello Orchestra and the Artistic Director of the Chesa da Cultura St. Moritz.

Seminar for Composers and Instrumentalists

Michael Jarrell

Target Groups: composer, musicians, listeners

Languages: French, German, English

Course location: Chesa da Cultura, Via Dimlej 44, CH-7500 St. Moritz

Seminar for Composers and Instrumentalists with Michael Jarrell
The seminar focuses on the comprehensive musical scope of Michael Jarrell’s music and his extensive pedagogical experience. It addresses composers who wish to present their works and performers who wish to get to know Michael Jarrell’s music and be introduced to the world of Contemporary Music. The works dealt with in the seminar will be performed in the final matinée concert on October 2^nd, 2022 at 11 a.m. Michael Jarrell will be at Chesa da Cultura as Composer-in-Residence throughout the entire week. The seminar will open on September 25^th 2022, at 6 p.m. with a joint dinner.

Michael Jarrell was born in Geneva in 1958. He studied at the Geneva Conservatoire de Musique with Eric Gaudibart and in several master classes in the U.S. (Tanglewood, 1979). Michael Jarrell completed his education with Klaus Huber at the Freiburg University of Music. Between 1986 and 1988, he was a scholarship student at the Cité des Arts in Paris and a participant in an informatics course at Ircam. 1988/89 he was a scholarship student at Villa Medici in Rome and, until 1990, a member of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma. Michael Jarrell is famous for his distinctive temporary style. Since 1982, his works have received numerous awards: Prix Acanthes (1983); Beethoven Prize of the City of Bonn (1986); Marescotti (1986); Gaudeamus and Henriette Renié (1988); and the Siemens Promotion Prize (1990); and 2001 Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. Michael Jarrell has composed the following commissioned works: in 2001, a piano concert for Salzburg Festival; in 2007, Un temps de silence in Geneva for Emanuel Pahud and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande with Heinz Holliger; in 2016, Aquateinte, Concerto for oboe and orchestra with François Leleux as soloist; Des nuages et des brouillards for violin and orchestra; Emergences-Résurgences for viola and orchestra with Tabea Zimmermann. In 2017, a concerto for flute Un temps de silence, a concerto for flute composed for Emmanuel Pahud and premiered with him. Jarrell’s new opera, Bérénice, adapted from Jean Racine was created in 2018 in Paris in co-operation with Barbara Hannigan. His chamber opera, Cassandre, first performed in Paris in 1994, is internationally played and has been translated into seven languages. Since 1993, Michael Jarell has been Professor of Composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Since 2004, he has been also teaching Composition at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva.

Cellist Martina Schucan and clarinetist Ernesto Molinari of the Collegium Novum Zurich will be joined by pianist Mathilde Hoursiangou of the Phase Ensemble Vienna to assist Michael Jarrell by teaching participants during the seminar and performing a selection of Jarrell’s works and works by the composers participants in the final concert.

Interpretation Course for Lute and Plucked Instruments

Hopkinson Smith

Target Groups: Music students & players of lute, guitar, and other plucked instruments

Languages: English, German, French

Course location: Chesa da Cultura, Via Dimlej 44, CH-7500 St. Moritz

Master Class for Plucked Instruments with Hopkinson Smith (Lute)
In addition to his concert activities as a lutenist, Hopkinson Smith also is a teacher. His technical, instrumental, and musical musical skills, which he teaches in master classes all over the world, are highly appreciated by talented young musicians. His experience as a lutenist of early music as well as the realization of musical ideas are the focus of his seminar. The lessons focus on the experience of listening as well as technique and interpretation. Listeners may also participate in the seminar. The works dealt with will be performed on September 11th, 2022, at 11 a.m. in a matinée concert. Hopkinson Smith will be present as Artist-in-Residence at Chesa da Cultura throughout the entire week. The master class will begin on September 4^th, 2022, at 6 p.m. with a joint dinner.

Hopkinson Smith, born in New York in 1946, is considered a leading figure in the field of early music and enjoys an international reputation as a lutenist. He studied Musicology in Harvard, graduating with honours in 1972. He then came to Europe, where he studied with Emilio Pujol in Catalonia, a great pedagogue in the nineteenth-century tradition. He then came to Switzerland to study the lute with Eugen M Dombois at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The triad of musical style, musical realization, and the instrument of Eugen M Dombois continue to influence Hopkinson Smith to this day. In addition to his work with many chamber-music orchestras, he was co-founder of the  Ensemble Hesperion XX in 1974; his ten years of working with gambist Jordi Savall was to shape his chamber-music experience. Since 1976, Hopkinson Smith has been teaching at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, initially alongside Eugen M Dombois and from 1996 as his successor. From the mid-1980s, he focused on the solo repertoire for historical plucked instruments. His many award-winning solo recordings on various plucked instruments cover a wide range of Renaissance and Baroque styles. His arrangements of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Violin and the Suites for Violoncello for the lute are of great importance. In 2007 and 2009, he moreover gave concerts and classes in Palestine under the auspices of Barenboim-Said Foundation.