Application deadline October 20, 2024
We are excited to present Professor Johannes Schlaefli and Professor Christoph-Mathias Mueller masterclass for professional conductors and advanced conducting students.
A maximum of 14 active participants will have podium time of approximately 130 minutes each. Besides the sessions with full orchestra, there will be conducting lessons with chamber ensembles (string and wind players).
The individual needs of each participant will be addressed in video analysis sessions, class meetings, and coachings in front of the orchestra. Conducting techniques, presence in front of the orchestra, understanding of the score, and rehearsal techniques will be explored in individual lessons as well as in group meetings.
On the last day of the masterclass, participants will have the opportunity to create their own publicity video recording during two recording sessions.
Masterclass Fees:
- Application fee: €75 (non-refundable)
- Course fee for active participants: €1850
- Course fee for passive participants: €300
- Deposit: €1000 payable due October 29, 2024
- Balance: €850 payable due December 05, 2024, or in cash on the first day of the masterclass.
Please note that these fees DO NOT include travel and accommodation. However, we are happy to recommend an affordable hotel in Sofia with which we have had good experience in the past years.
The selection of the active participants will be communicated via email within seven days after the application deadline.
The organizer reserves the right to postpone or cancel the masterclass in case of force majeure or other unforeseeable circumstances such as governments restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel bans, etc. The organizer will immediately notify participants of such changes and will refund the paid fee in full in case of event cancelation. Participants may not assert any compensation claims for travel, visa, accommodation costs, etc.
Prof. Johannes Schlaefli
Johannes Schlaefli is currently serving as “artistic director” of the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra and of “Alumni-Symphony-Orchestra Zürich”. He acts as Principal Guest Professor for the Conducting Classes at the Music Universities in Zürich and Frankfurt.
As one of the most highly sought after conducting teachers, Schlaefli is in demand throughout the world and was invited by institutions such as the Sibelius Academy Helinski, the Juilliard- School New York, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen music festival and many others. He also serves as “head of teaching” at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Conducting Academy, and works together with the prestigious “Dirigentenforum” in Germany as well as with the Norwegian “Dirigentloftet” in Oslo. As a guest professor, he has taught throughout Europe at the Music Universities of Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Manchester, Copenhagen, Helsinki.
Johannes Schlaefli was the co-founder of Basel Chamber Orchestra in 1984. From 1995-2013 he was chief conductor of Bern Chamber Orchestra before leading the Mannheim chamber orchestra as chief conductor from 2013-2019. Since 2018 he was chief conductor of the symphony orchestra “Collegium Musicum Basel” and will end his tenure in summer 2024. As a guest conductor, he has performed in his home country with orchestras such as the Tonhalleorchester Zürich, orchestra della Svizzera Italiana Lugano, symphony orchestras in Biel, Bern, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Kammerphilharmonie Chur, Zürich chamber orchestra, Argovia philharmonic an others. Internationally he also guest conducted Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Knoxville symphony orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic orchestra Ostrava, Philharmonia Prague, Allegra Festival orchestra Sofia, südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, symphony orchestra Göttingen, Berlin sinfonietta etc.
Christoph-Mathias Mueller
Christoph-Mathias Mueller is a distinguished conductor and the recipient of the prestigious Opus Klassik Award for Best Symphonic Recording. He serves as the Artistic Director of the Murten Classics Festival in Switzerland and is the Head of the Orchestral Conducting Department at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
Born in Peru in 1967, Mueller grew up in Switzerland and studied violin in Basel. He earned his Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati and has spent many years living and working in Germany and around the globe.
Mueller gained international recognition in 2000 after winning the International Conducting Competition in Cadaqués, Spain. He served as a Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood, working with renowned figures such as Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano, and Leon Fleisher. In 2001, Claudio Abbado invited him to be the Assistant Conductor for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, a role he held until 2005.
After a year as Chief Conductor of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in Egypt, he became Chief Conductor of the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra in Germany, where he later assumed the role of General Music Director. Their collaboration, which lasted 13 years, garnered two ECHO Klassik awards in 2013 and 2017.
As a Guest Conductor, Mueller maintained a close association with Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater until 2014. His versatility in contemporary music has led prominent composers, including Dieter Schnebel, Kenneth Hesketh, Rudolf Kelterborn, Isabel Mundry, and Detlev Glanert, to entrust him with their works. In recent years, he has focused particularly on rediscovering the music of composers who suffered under oppressive regimes, such as Ursula Mamlok, Alexander Veprik, and Mikhail Nosyrev.
His recent recordings feature orchestral works by Alexander Veprik with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as violin concertos by Wolfgang Rihm, performed with ECHO prize-winner Tianwa Yang. Mueller’s extensive discography includes several highly praised recordings for Sony Classical, including the album “Bel Canto” with Simone Kermes and the original sound specialists at Concerto Köln.
Mueller regularly performs with internationally renowned orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Tonhalle- Orchester Zürich, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, DSO Berlin, and SWR Symphony Orchestra, along with orchestras in Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Bochum, Weimar, Jena, and Wuppertal. Last season, he conducted the Basque National Orchestra in San Sebastián, the Slovak Philharmonic, and a highly successful premiere at the Leipzig Opera with the Gewandhausorchester.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3
1st movement
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2
1st and 2nd movements
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6
Finale
Johann Strauss
Overture “Die Fledermaus”
Richard Strauss
Rosenkavalier-Suite
Walzerfolge Nr. 1
08.12.2024, Sunday
20:00h Meeting
09.12.2024, Monday
10:00-12:30h Ensembles
14:00-16:30h Ensembles
10.12.2024, Tuesday
10:00-12:30h Full Orchestra
14:00-16:30h Full Orchestra
11.12.2024, Wednesday
10:00-12:30h Ensembles
14:00-16:30h Ensembles
12.12.2024, Thursday
10:00-12:30h Full Orchestra
14:00-16:30h Full Orchestra
13.12.2024, Friday
10:00-12:30h Full Orchestra
14:00-16:30h Full Orchestra
14.12.2024, Saturday
Departure
DISCLAIMER:
Please note that quality audio and video equipment is provided free of charge to all participants for the recording of their sessions for the duration of each masterclass. Allegra Academy also offers a dedicated video recording session on the last day of each masterclass in a dress-rehearsal-mode; these recordings are the only ones from the whole masterclass, which participants are allowed to publicly broadcast and publish on social media and other platforms.
