ADDITIONAL NOTES:
1) This workshop is open to experienced conductors. The masterclass is limited to only 5 active participants.
2) Participants will work with the orchestra for four days, at the Belosselsky-Belozersky Palace, St. Petersburg City Cultural Center. There will also be two workshop sessions with piano only.
3) Accommodation at a hotel or a private apartment (at a reasonable price - usually around €40 per day) can be arranged on your behalf.
4) Assistance with Visa issuance (i.e. Invitation Letter) for Russia is available at no additional cost (required for most nationals). The Visa Assistance Form can be downloaded from this website.
5) All sessions can be videotaped (please bring your own cameras and DV tapes).
6) Final concert will be videotaped - the performance DVD will be sent to each participant free of charge (i.e. included in the price of the masterclass)
7) Please note that, if you are to bring a musical instrument and/or bow into Russia, you may need to declare it with the customs, as well as give a photo of your instrument.
Active Participant Fees - 2,650 EUROS (auditors: 650 EUROS)
Deadline for Applications: October 10, 2008
NOTE: Active participants places are full, but you can still apply as an auditor.
The Workshop Fee covers all masterclass sessions (approx. 40 minutes per participant per day).
A Certificate of Completion will be issued to each participant after the final concert.
Places are limited - the masterclass is limited to only 5 active participants, but number of auditors is not limited. Please inquire today.
About the Faculty:
Maestro VASSILY SINAISKY (Russia)
"Sinaisky, whose conducting is precise, sensuous and who has a near perfect technique
must have sharpened the senses of the Gewandhaus. This orchestra rarely plays with such
boundlessly generosity, with such flexible dynamic range, with such voluptuous use of
colour, so rich in detail and with such a grasp of structure. A truly great Shostakovich - moving, truthful and unsettling." (Leipziger Volkszeitung)
Vassily Sinaisky's international career was launched in 1973 when he won the Gold Medal at the
prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. His early work as Assistant to the legendary Kondrashin
at Moscow Philharmonic, and his study with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatoire provided him
with an incomparable grounding.
Sinaisky was Music Director and Principal Conductor of Moscow Philharmonic from 1991-1996. He
has also held the posts of Chief Conductor of the Latvian Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor
of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. He was appointed Music Director and Principal
Conductor of the Russian State Orchestra (formerly Svetlanov's USSR State Symphony Orchestra)
a position which he held until 2002. Sinaisky has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC
Philharmonic since 1996 and is a regular and popular visitor to the BBC Proms each summer. In
January 2007 Sinaisky takes over as Principal Conductor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra in
Sweden. His appointment coincides with the launch of the orchestra's ambitious new development
plan.
Recent engagements for Sinaisky include returns to the London Philharmonic and Concertgebouw
Orchestra, and his debut with the NDR Sinfonie Orchester Hamburg. In 2006/7 he will make debuts
with the Pittsburgh, St Louis and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestras. He will return to the Los
Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, RSB Berlin, Czech Philharmonic,
and City of Birmingham Symphony, with whom he enjoys regular and fruitful collaborations
including a tour of Spain later this year.
In Spring 2006 Sinaisky spearheaded the 'Shostakovich and his Heroes' festival in Manchester
conducting five concerts over the course of January and February. He won extraordinary critical
acclaim. The Telegraph commented that "The Shostakovich centenary year will be very remarkable
indeed if it produces another performance of the Fourth Symphony to match Saturday night's
viscerally penetrating one by the BBC Philharmonic under Vassily Sinaisky. Taut, tense and
terrifying..."
Sinaisky has a distinguished pedigree as an operatic conductor, having been Principal Guest
Conductor with the Bolshoi. Most recently he conducted performances of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with
Welsh National Opera, including one at the BBC Proms. Sinaisky's conducting of a new production
of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Komische Oper Berlin in the 2004/05 season
also received unanimous critical acclaim in the international press. In recent years, productions of
Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera were both highly praised. Of Der
Rosenkavalier, the Financial Times commented: "Vassily Sinaisky is a born Straussian."
Vassily Sinaisky has made several recordings with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos
including works by Szymanowski, Shchedrin, Balakirev and Schreker and most recently a series of
recordings of Shostakovich's film music.
About the Orchestra:
ST. PETERSBURG STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1967 under the directorship of Nikolai Rabinovich and has had many outstanding conductors from the St Petersburg school involved from its foundation such as Karl Eliasberg and Edward Grikurov. They set a very high musical standard which was then strengthened by their conducting students of the next generation - Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Y. Simonov, E. Serov, E Kolobov, R Martynov and others. The orchestra has undergone much change since its inception including a change of name and leadership but through all this time it has been developing its repertoire strengths and building a devoted audience. In 1996, the orchestra was given the honorary title of an Academic Orchestra.
The orchestra’s repertoire is extremely diverse ranging from the Baroque music of Handel and Vivaldi right through to music of the 20 th century. Since 1991, the orchestra holds their subscription series in the Mirror Hall of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace. In addition, the orchestra often performs in the Philharmonic Hall. Apart from standard concerts, the orchestra offers many educational programmes aimed at children and young people with repertoire including the classical masterpieces, Russian repertoire and music from foreign composers.
The regular commissioning and performance of new compositions is testament to the high standard of the orchestra with many new works written especially for the orchestra. There is strong support for local composers but also collaborations with many foreign composers who have also dedicated their works to this orchestra.
The Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra tours regularly all over the world and has had successful concerts in Spain, Japan, Mexico, Germany, China and Finland. In the autumn of 1998, the orchestra toured to the USA and over 2 months held close to 50 concerts in different cities from the far east to the west coasts.
Many distinguished soloists and conductors have worked with the orchestra over the years such as Sviatoslav Richter, Elena Obrastsova, Yevgeni Nesterenko, Natalia Gutman, Eliso Virsaladze, Mikhail Vaiman, Yevgeniy Mogilevsky, O. Nikole, Montserrat Kabale, Pavel Egorov and Viktor Tretyakov.
From 2004 to 2007, the orchestra appointed the young, dynamic Vasily Petrenko as the new Chief Conductor following on from Ravil Martynov. From 2007 the principal conductor of the orchestrais Maestro Alexander Titov, Honorary Artist of Russia.
20th INTERNATIONAL MASTERCLASS