7th Open Strings Masterclass
Wednesday 23 June – Sunday 4 July 2010
Open Strings 2010 is a cello masterclass which aims to stimulate and inspire the progress of both aspiring young professionals and advanced academy students. The masterclass takes place at Frederiksdal Manor on the island of Lolland, 180 km south of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Open Strings is increasing the scope of its ambition every year. For 2010, we have added a conductor to the roster of professors and expanded the course to eleven full days.
All students will receive a minimum of eight cello lessons and at least one ‘concerto session’ with the conductor and the accompanist. Since all participants will be taught by all four cello professors, every student is expected to prepare a minimum of four different pieces or movements.
Depending on availability, students in need of piano accompaniment can work with the accompanist.
Interested students can also participate in a cello ensemble led by the conductor Christopher Austin.
Contact information & application procedure
Frederiksdal is not an institution but a private home. Every room has its own character, size and view, and participants are part of everyday life on the estate; meals are personal, healthy and varied.
The house’s isolation and its situation in one of the most beautiful corners of Denmark, in wooded grounds fifteen minutes from the sea, make for a uniquely serene and inspiring environment in which to study.
Some of the lessons and all of the concerts will be conducted in a brand-new, purpose-built performance hall at a farmhouse on the manor’s estate, a short walk across the cherry orchards.
Students wrote:
"After completing my studies in 2007, I found myself missing the
opportunity to immerse myself in the refinement of my technique and the expansion of my repertoire. As an orchestral musician, it's not exactly simple to find the time to work in such an unbroken and intense way - although it's necessary to maintain and hopefully improve the standards of your art.
So in July 2009, I decided to sign up for Open Strings, seeking time and stimulation to further my development. The course is the most interesting of its art in Denmark, with teaching of the highest international class. I soon discovered that the level among students was amazingly high, too. It was a great inspiration to listen to others' lessons.
It was, not least, deeply rewarding to get lessons every day for more than a week from teachers who have the experience and judgement needed to make the most of the inevitably limited time that masterclasses have - and who were also charismatic personalities that made every lesson a rare experience!"
M. S-H. Denmark 2009
"This course was a special experience for me because it's different from most of the masterclasses I know. In the other masterclasses you can take lessons with mostly one of the very good cellists in the world, but here in openstrings you have four (!) of them gathered in one place to teach students from all over the world. It was really demanding because you get an input from 4 diffrent personalities in a very short time, but aren't we here to learn a lot of things??
I really liked the whole ambiente and the relaxed atmosphere. But that didn't mean that everybody wasn't working hard and on a very professional level. Also passive participants (interested people, cellists or non-cellists, at every age) are very welcome. That was my first participation this year and I hope it's not the last time! And maybe I can experience the castle in which this course took place before.
It was good balance between hard work, learning and having a lot of fun (including diverse jam-sessions with Jakob and Peter)."
C-H. H. Austria 2009
Teachers 2010
