9th International Master Classes for oboe and english horn
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Ostrava – Czech Republic June 26th - July 1st 2023
Dear oboists, you are invited to the 9th International Oboe Master Classes and Festival at the University of Ostrava. This year's oboe faculty are Christian Wetzel (Germany), Marlen Vavříková (USA), Sandro Caldini (Italy), Geoffrey Burgess (USA), Stephen Caplan (USA) and Dušan Foltýn (Czech Republic).
Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic, is situated in the North Moravian region, located four-hundred kilometers east of Prague. This week-long oboe festival provides not only the opportunity to work with world-class oboe faculty, but also a chance to perform solo and chamber repertoire, ranging from Baroque to contemporary, in Ostrava’s beautiful concert halls.
In the lessons and master classes, distinguished oboe teachers will help students with various technical aspects of oboe playing: sound production, breathing, embouchure, articulation, finger technique, and extended techniques in contemporary music. This year, we are adding body mapping workshops and lessons with Stephen Caplan and baroque oboe lectures with Geoffrey Burgess too. In addition to private lessons, there will also be lectures, workshops, and an exhibition of instrument and oboe accessories. A professional accompanist, a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts teaching staff, will be available to accompany students during master classes and performances. Accommodation will be provided in downtown Ostrava near the university. We look forward to seeing you in Ostrava!
Tuition:
Participants - 450 Euro
The tuition includes individual lessons, attendance of master classes and workshops, participation in chamber music rehearsals, and accommodation.
Auditors - 300 Euro
The tuition includes attendance of master classes and workshops, participation in chamber music rehearsals, and accommodation. The deadline to apply is February 28. Send your application together with your video recordings to Marlen Vavříková (vavrikov@gmail.com). We will notify you if you were accepted into the festival by March 15. Full tuition must be paid by May 1.
Links with instructions on how to submit your payment:
Christian Wetzel is professor at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and at the Music-Conservatory of the Basque Country in San Sebastian, Spain „Musikene“. At the age of 24 he became the principal oboist in the National Theater Orchester in Mannheim, and was named nine years later as Professor for Oboe at the „Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” Conservatory for Music in Leipzig (Germany). Here he taught until 2008 when he accepted the title as Professor at the Conservatory in Cologne (Germany) where he currently works as one of Germany’s most renown teachers. He also holds a class at the Music-Conservatory of the Basque Country in San Sebastian (Spain) „Musikene“ and teaches at other leading music conservatories such as the Juilliard School in New York, the Royal Academy of Music in London or the Vienna Music Conservatory and holds masterclasses throughout the world. When not teaching, he enjoys appearing as a soloist and chamber musician at various renowned international music festivals and as a founder and oboist of the internationally acclaimed Ma’alot Windquintett, which has won many competitions and CD-awards throughout its long-lasting history.
Sandro Caldini has appeared as solo oboist with the Chamber Orchestra of Florence, the Cantica Nova Orchestra in Siena and the Accademia Secolo XXI Orchestra in Legnago. He has collaborated with ensembles such as Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Corale Coradini and Esprit du bois and he has given concerts and master classes in Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Canada, Brazil and the USA. After teaching at the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, he accepted a teaching position at the Conservatory of Music in Milan and Cagliari (1995); in 1997 - he was appointed as an oboe professor at the Conservatory of Music in Udine. He is an active editor of oboe works for the Musica Rara, Doblinger, Breitkopf & Härtel and Phylloscopus editions. He served as the 2nd Vice-President of the IDRS for the biennial period 2006-2007 and has been on the juries of several oboe competitions, including the prestigious Barbirolli and IDRS Fox-Gillet Oboe Competitions. He has recorded for the Rivo Alto, CRDM and Ariston labels.
Stephen Caplan is Professor of Oboe at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and serves as Principal Oboist of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Sierra Winds. In the summer he performs and teaches at the Orfeo Music Festival in the Italian Alps. In 2004, Caplan became a licensed Andover Educator after extensive study of Body Mapping with Barbara Conable. Caplan has developed a course for oboe players, « Oboemotions, » that uses applied anatomy to encourage more expressive and more efficient oboe playing. His “Oboemotions” master class has twice been featured at the annual conference of the International Double Reed Society. He has been a clinician for « Nora Post’s Oboe Blowout, » “Northwest Oboe Seminar,” and « California Double Reed Day. » In addition, Caplan has given master classes at many leading music schools around the world. His book, Oboemotions; What Every Oboe Player Needs to Know About the Body, is published by GIA Publications and has been described as “indispensable reading for the serious student,” and “the operating manual for oboists.”
Geoffrey Burgess is known internationally as a performer of historical oboes. For twenty years a member of the Paris-based opera company Les Arts Florissants, Geoffrey has also given concerts with leading early music groups in throughout Europe, Australasia, and the US. Geoffrey’s experience ranges from late 17th-century French repertoire to premières of new works composed for “Duo d’amore” with harpsichordist Elaine Funaro. Beginning studies in Sydney, he specialized in baroque music in The Hague, followed by a doctoral degree in musicology at Cornell University. Dr Burgess has taught on the faculties of Stony Brook, Duke and Columbia Universities and currently teaches at the Eastman School of Music. His book, The Oboe (Yale University Press) written in collaboration with the late Bruce Haynes, was voted an outstanding achievement by the American Music Instrument Society. Geoffrey continues to be sought after as a refined interpreter of baroque music and has served as principal oboe with the Washington Bach Consort and collaborated with leading artists.
Marlen Vavříková is Professor of Oboe at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Additionally, she was invited to teach at Interlochen Arts Academy (2017) and in 2022 she was Visiting Professor at the University of Ostrava. Her research has been guided by her interest in contemporary Czech oboe music. Her playing has been praised as “beautiful throughout, with a sensitive and lyrical touch, sure technique and intonation, and a range of dynamics unusually wide for oboists.” (Fanfare) The compact disc “Petr Eben: Chamber Music for Oboe” was recognized as “one of the most important issues there has ever been of Eben’s music.” (Dvořák Society) She studied at the Janáček Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana under the guidance of professors Dan Stolper, Nancy King, Richard Killmer, Josef Židek, and Gabriel Sýkora.
Dušan Foltýn has been working for more than 30 years as a principal oboe player in the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava and since 1996 he is leading the oboe class at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music of University of Ostrava. Here he also holds the position of the Head of Department of Wind Instruments. The range of his pedagogical and artistic activities is very varied – he organizes international oboe master classes, is often invited to juries of oboe competitions, regularly develops recording activities and, in addition to solo concerts, also plays in chamber ensembles Baroque Music Trio and Musica per cinque. He initiated and performed a lot of premieres of Czech oboe compositions and his graduates find important positions in many Czech orchestras.
Updated: 28. 02. 2023
