Kronberg Academy’s projects Kronberg Academy’s projects are a real source of inspiration!
Marta Casals Istomin
A meeting place for enthusiasts
Talent alone does not make an artist. Knowledge and experience lend wings to creativity and intuition. But before any art can really take off, one special ingredient is needed – inspiration!
Kronberg Academy’s projects are intended to provide inspiration for budding young violinists, violists and cellists.They meet some of the world’s leading contemporary musicians and gain first-hand experience of their genius and craftsmanship in traditional teaching sessions (Cello and Violin Masterclasses), in top-quality festival concerts with international stars (Cello Festival and Viola Festival), by playing music with their role models (Chamber Music Connects the World and Mit Musik – Miteinander), on international competition platforms (Pablo Casals Cello Competition and Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann). Genius is contagious and meetings release something special. In Kronberg something suddenly clicks, creativity is awakened and the love of life and music is fanned to flame; both artist and audience come away full of fresh enthusiasm!
A musical experience – Cello Festival & Viola Festival
A musical firework display, Kronberg Academy’s emotionally charged flagship – the internationally renowned Cello Festival. The first “family reunion of cellists” was arranged in 1993 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the death of Pablo Casals and was firmly placed under the patronage of Marta Casals Istomin.
In the “world capital of the cello” – to use Mstislav Rostropovich’s description of Kronberg – young cellists can look forward to a packed programme of first-class concerts given by the best cellists in the world, a summit meeting of world-famous virtuosos, who also give up their time to teach in workshops, and encounters with many like-minded young cellists from all parts of the globe. Each Festival has a special thematic emphasis and provides new and surprising insights into the world of cello music. For musiclovers, every Cello Festival is a real festival of the senses – enthralling, thrilling and simply unique. The Cello Festival’s “cousin”, the Viola Festival, offers violists a parallel opportunity to take part in a similar “family reunion” in Kronberg.
Learning from the master – Cello Masterclasses & Violin Masterclasses
“I’d like to have lessons with that artist.” The traditional teaching session is the core feature of Kronberg Academy’s Masterclasses. At least three internationally distinguished artists and tutors give up one week of their time to teach young musicians who have travelled to Kronberg from all over the world.
In the Masterclasses, young violinists and cellists have an opportunity to to to to
learn from the professionals and to gain decisive fresh impetus for their further musical development, get to know several quite different cello schools, attend concerts in which artists themselves put what they teach into practice, and network with like-minded young violinists and cellists from every continent.
For the students, however, the Cello and Violin Masterclasses are also a chance to make their name known. Prestigious promotional prizes are awarded at the end of both events and are just one aspect of Kronberg Academy’s multifaceted programme of practical support and encouragement. The audience meanwhile embarks on its own voyage of discovery. It is not unusual for the public teaching sessions and the final concert given by the Masterclass participants to end with the young musicians having taken many hearts by storm.
A chamber music adventure – Chamber Music Connects the World & Mit Musik – Miteinander
There are some things that just cannot be put into words – especially in the world of music. How, then, does the musical message get across? By playing with others! The opportunity to play in an ensemble with leading international musicians is precisely what is on offer to gifted young musicians in the chamber music project Chamber Music Connects the World. A world-famous musician plays in each ensemble as “primus inter pares”.
Eleven days of rehearsing together in preparation for a public concert facilitate an intense exchange of musical and human experience, lead to valuable contacts and relationships that have a lasting impact on the young musicians’ personal and professional development, and produce top-level chamber music performances. Chamber Music Connects the World, to which violinist Gidon Kremer is particularly committed, releases energy and is a source of inspiration for everyone. It is the “direct route” from one generation of artists to the next. Another direct link is to the audience, which can see from the public rehearsals how, one day at a time, musical enterprise gradually leads to exceptionally beautiful concerts. In the sense of a generation contract, the young people who take part in Chamber Music Connects the World pass their experience on to especially gifted school-aged musicians in the project Mit Musik – Miteinander. Chamber Music Connects the World and Mit Musik – Miteinander are actively supported by the Crespo Foundation.
Challenges and opportunities – Pablo Casals Cello Competition & Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann
What point have I reached? What are others doing? And where do I go to from here? It is vital for young musicians to be able to assess their own achievements, to be familiar with their environment and to be given feedback. Kronberg Academy organises two international cello competitions, the Pablo Casals Cello Competition in Kronberg and – in association with the Berlin University of the Arts – the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin. With the involvement of famous musical personae such as Daniel Barenboim, Marta Casals Istomin, Kurt Masur and Mstislav Rostropovich (†), they are both a personal challenge and an opportunity.
Distinguished international competitions are a platform allowing them to show a jury of musical experts just what they can do to, present an opportunity to see and hear other young musicians performing at the same high standard and to get to know them, and provide openings, through prestigious prizes and international attention, for a huge career boost. The two competitions were launched to commemorate the life and work of the great cellists Pablo Casals and Emanuel Feuermann. For the audience, they are exciting musical events, which evolve from one round to the next and culminate in the official prizewinners’ concert.
Winning children’s hearts – Classic for Kids & “Jugend ins Konzert”
Providing practical support for the leading musicians of the future also means taking time to cultivate tomorrow’s audiences! Furthermore, as our children tend to have keen ears, they should be introduced to top-quality music from early on.
Kronberg Academy has therefore developed various projects to show children and teenagers how exciting music can be, to answer questions, to satisfy curiosity and to start to develop an understanding for “classical sounds”, and to engender a love of classical music and allow it to grow. Classic for Kids is the name given to the concert series for children in which, three times a year, famous musicians present their instruments in a playful, amusing and highly professional manner – with the support of a “musical storyteller” and his earwig Theophil. Meanwhile, under the patronage of the German Minister of the Interior, the Jugend ins Konzert initiative allows young people to buy tickets for the major concerts during Kronberg Academy’s project events for the symbolic price of just €3.
Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory Youngsters whose imagination has been captured by the concerts that they have attended can become more than spectators and take violin, viola or cello lessons at Kronberg Academy’s Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory.
A glimpse behind the scenes
Who would not like to find out just how great interpreters conjure up what so deeply moves us as listeners? Or to watch them rehearse, teach and inspire young musicians?
Because the audience is an artist’s key partner, Kronberg Academy places importance on its being there “from the first note to the last”. Not only at the unforgettable concerts, but also in the public teaching sessions during the Cello and Violin Masterclasses, in the public chamber music rehearsals in the Chamber Music Connects the World and Mit Musik – Miteinander projects, in the public final rehearsals for the festival concerts, and in the public competition rounds of the Pablo Casals Cello Competition and the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann. Kronberg Academy’s aim is for its projects to help to take listeners into an even deeper relationship with music. The language of music is infinitely rich, with no end of things to say to anyone who takes time to listen ... To quote Friedrich Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake!”
Nicolas Altstaedt, Pierre Amoyal, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova,Yuri Bashmet, Beaux Arts Trio,Yuri Bashmet, Beethovenorchester Bonn,Tanja BeckerBender, Mate Bekavac, Julius Berger, Andrej Bielow, Wolfgang Boettcher, Claudio Bohórquez, Andreas Brantelid, Eduard Brunner, Khatia Buniatishvili, Anner Bylsma, Marta Casals Istomin,Young-Chang Cho, Ana Chumachenco, Cellissimo, Lluís Claret, Lars Danielsson,Thomas Demenga, Gaetano D’Espinosa, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein, the 12 Violists of the Berlin Philharmonic, the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, Enrico Dindo, Friedemann Eichhorn, Leonard Elschenbroich, Ensemble Modern, Laszlo Fenyö, Graciane Finzi,Vilde Frang, Mauricio Fuks, Sol Gabetta, José Gallardo, Ruben Gazarian, David Geringas,Tatjana Geringas, Kirill Gerstein, Pavel Gililov, Ralf Gothoni, Irena Grafenauer, Bernard Greenhouse, Guarneri Quartet, Natalia Gutman, Babette Haag, Cristóbal Halffter, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Martin Helmchen, Frans Helmerson, Sebastian Hess, Gary Hoffman, Daniel Hope, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Alina Ibragimova, Nobuko Imai, Danjulo Ishizaka, Steven Isserlis, Eugene Istomin (†), Neeme Järvi, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Sharon Kam, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Daishin Kashimoto, Kim Kashkashian, Giorgi Kharadze, Kiev Chamber Orchestra,Volker David Kirchner, Maria Kliegel, Roman Kofman, Mark Kosover, Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Kuss Quartett, Roby Lakatos, Monika Leskovar, Laurence Lesser, Gavriel Lipkind, Natalia Lomeiko, Jens-Peter Maintz, Oleg Maisenberg, Mischa Maisky, Mihaela Martin, Kurt Masur, Antonio Meneses, Werner Thomas Mifune, Dai Miyata, Nils Mönkemeyer, Ivan Monighetti,Truls Mørk, Moskauer Solisten, Philippe Muller, Zara Nelsova (†), Arto Noras, Sigfried Palm (†), Roman Patkoló, Krzysztof Penderecki, Miklós Perényi, Boris Pergamenschikow (†), William Pleeth (†), Alina Pogostkina, Christian Poltéra, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Christoph Poppen, Menahem Pressler, Ernst Reijseger, Aribert Reimann, Mstislav Rostropovich (†), Alexander Rudin, Michael Sanderling, András Schiff, Heinrich Schiff, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Gabriel Schwabe, Natalia Shakovskaya, Henri Sigfridsson, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Giovanni Sollima, Janós Starker, Julian Steckel, Arnold Steinhardt, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Lakshminarayana Subrameniam, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Antoine Tamestit, Christian Tetzlaff, Sebastian Tewinkel, Lars-Anders Tomter, Michael Tree, Kirill Troussov,Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Ula Ulijona,Tatjana Vassiljeva, Pavel Vernikov, Lars Vogt, Ilan Volkov, Rafael Wallfisch, Hanna Weinmeister, Pieter Wispelwey, Hugh Wolff, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn,Tabea Zimmermann and many others
Photos: Simon Annand (1), Andreas Malkmus (6/8), Wolf Nesselhauf (2), Uwe Nölke (12), Lutz Sternstein (4), Uta Süße-Krause (10/14)
Kronberg Academy Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 6 61476 Kronberg, Germany
Tel +49 6173 783378 Fax +49 6173 783379
administration@kronbergacademy.de www.kronbergacademy.de