Kronberg in Winter Wonderland – Impressions and a Look Back
Mittwoch, 22. Dezember 2010Kronberg Academy Team finishes a dynamic year 2010
In a few days we will close our books on a dynamic year 2010. During the final days of the year we are all happy to welcome winter wonderland in the world´s cello capital which is Kronberg ( Maestro Rostropovich said this many years ago).
Lots of great projects were successfully delivered. The last big event on our To-Do list was the execution of the third international cello competition “Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann” in Berlin late November, organised together with the “Universität der Künste Berlin”. 12 semi-finalists gathered in Berlin´s Kammermusiksaal and in the last round just 3 finalists competed for this prestigious price. In the end, Russian cellist Alexander Buzlov was nominated by the jury as the winner, followed by the British cellist Philip Higham and the German cellist Konstanze von Gutzeit. A marvellous final concert of the winners in the “Konzerthaus” topped the overall event on November 21. Well, a series of other events and projects from January to November created a permanent stream of intense work on our behalf. To mention just a few: cello master classes in September, masters in performance in June, featuring many solo performances of our young soloists, then the chamber music project “Chamber Music Connects the World” in its tenth year. All of these activities received enormous press coverage. Our team delivered background stories on the blog site with current photographs and interviews. Another KA talk was realised, interviewing cello soloist Julian Arp, who participated in the CMCW workshops..
Not to forget the two rounds of our “Mit Musik – Miteinander” workshops where 3 young soloists teach and play with around 10-15 young talented musicians (aged under 20 years).
Besides all this we´ve put a programme of classical music for kids into action, a project that happens every year and we run this three times featuring different compositions and different musical instruments at the centre of the works. This is our contribution to attract young children to the world of classical music. One very special event (on top of what has just been described) was a true world premiere: Gidon Kremer, the world-renowned violinist and leader of the “Kremerata Baltica”, realised his idea to play especially for kids and offer a programme that was highly related to the world of animals. In close cooperation with the Kronberg Zoo, Gidon Kremer and members of his “Kremerate Baltica“ performed two concerts on the estate of the Zoo. And one additional performance which was exclusively given for the German friends and supporters organisation. A major Frankfurt-based radio station (hr2) recorded the concerts and broadcasted some weeks later.
Also for the third time, we celebrated in the heart of Kronberg Mstislav Rostropvichs 3rd death anniversary on April 27. Seated close to the Rostropovich bust Russian cellist Natalia Gutman performed a movement of Johann Sebastian Bach´s Suite for cello solo with hundreds of interested Kronberg citizens including its mayor.
Our study programme Kronberg Academy Masters blossomed as well. Many master classes were held, and our eminent body of professors is still: Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, Christian Tetzlaff, Nobuko Imai and Ana Chumachenko. During the last two weeks Professor Zakhar Bron from the Musikhochschule Cologne visited Kronberg and conducted master classes with our Young Soloists. The current number of “Kronberg Academy Masters” is now at 13. Interesting developments will happen during the coming year under the leadership of Stephen Potts, who is director of this unique study programme in the world of high calibre musical education.
During the last days of 2010 the team of Kronberg Academy is just finalising the preliminary agenda for the major projects and events in 2011. And we will have many offerings on our plate, you can be sure.
While still struggling with heavy snowfall in recent days (and more to come over Christmas) we are in a state of excitement because we can already grasp what it means to kick-off another successful year of musical performances and gatherings in our city next year, where emotions and commitment are the cornerstones of what we do here in this institution as one team.
A last word: we want to thank all our friends, supporters, musicians young and old, in Germany and in many European countries but also from countries as far away as China, Korea and Japan.
We look forward to present a series of great new musical events during 2011 and hope that our followers and friends grow in numbers but also muscially, emotionally and last but not least, personally.
To all of you: we wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Our next blog contribution will be published in early January.
Kronberg Academy Team
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