RESONANCES CHAMBER MUSIC ACADEMY
We are very happy to announce the dates for the Resonances Chamber Music Academy in 2024 !
8th – 14th APRIL 2024
The course takes place at the wonderful Château de Halloy near Ciney in Belgium.
The masterclasses will be given by the following professors: Philippe Graffin, David Quiggle, Amy Norrington and Martijn Vink.
Download in PDF: Resonances Chamber Music Academy
The Resonances Chamber Music Academy was inspired by the enthusiasm for the ‘masterclass moment’ during the Resonances Festival week. The academy, which takes place at a separate time from the festival itself, was created to give full attention to students who are passionate about chamber music and want to have an opportunity to immerse themselves fully for a week.
This course is an opportunity for students and young professionals in Belgium and abroad to get to know some of the great masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire on a profound level, guided by a few experienced musicians. The young musicians will immerse themselves in the repertoire for a week and have plenty of moments to perform their pieces at the end of the week. It will be a chance to meet and play with many different people from all over Europe in different formations and to be lead by internationally renowned chamber musicians who will join them in the chamber music groups and rehearse alongside them. At the end of the week, there will be several concerts and opportunities to perform. The course takes place at Chateau de Halloy near Ciney in Belgium, where we will all stay together.
Places are limited: 20 students /young professionals will be offered places for the course. Students will play in at least 2 groups, one of which will be a string quartet.
There is the option of coming with a self-formed group. For pre-formed groups there are 2 options:
1) To stay at the chateau and also be involved in at least one other group with other musicians from the course.
2) Attend as an external group for masterclasses only. In this case there will be no need to pay the lodging fees.
FEE: 765 euros Includes: daily masterclasses, all meals and accommodation in Chateau Halloy. (https://chateaudehalloy.be/en)
APPLICATIONS: All applicants should send their CV and a link to a film of their playing to: amynorrington@festival-resonances.be Application deadline: 20th January 2024.
NB: The academy is separate from the festival and takes place at a different time of the year from Festival Resonances. The masterclasses and performances are open to the Friends of Festival Resonances.
Violinist Philippe Graffin has established an indisputable reputation for his interpretations of the French repertoire, natural perhaps for one of the few pupils of Josef Gingold, himself a pupil of Ysaye for whom most of the violin repertoire of this era was written.
As concerto soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as The Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken the Residentie Orkest, Gothenburg Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra di Padova et del Veneto and St Petersburg Philharmonic.
Graffin performs works of many living composers such as Dutilleux and Saariaho and has had works written for him by Rodion Shchedrin, Vytautas Barkaukas, David Matthews, Philippe Hersant and Yves Prin. Following a performance of his Concerto Cantabile with Rostropovich conducting, Shchedrin wrote Concerto Parlando for Graffin which is now awaiting release on CD.
Philippe is a highly sought after chamber musician and is founder and artistic director of the “Consonances” chamber music festival of St Nazaire, France which in 2012 marked the 150th anniversary of Debussy. Recent highlights include concerts with the Georges Eneso Philharmonic in Bucharest and a recital in Venice at the Palazzetto Bru-Zane, televised by Mezzo as well as recitals in the summer at many French festivals including the Festival d’Orangerie de Sceaux. Graffin also featured on a BBC 4 documentary on Delius, performing Delius’s ‘Legende’ for violin and piano.
Born in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, David Quiggle has been a leading violist, chamber musician and teacher for more than 25 years. As a member of Spain’s Cuarteto Casals he toured Europe and South America, and won top prizes in the Wigmore, Hamburg and Paolo Borciani string quartet competitions.
David studied violin, viola, and string quartet at the Vancouver Academy of Music, the New England Conservatory and the Musikhochschule of Cologne. His teachers include Walter Trampler, Gwen Thompson, Walter Levin, Louis Krasner, Eugene Lehner, and the members of the Alban Berg Quartet.
As a member of the chamber ensemble La Bande de la Loingtaine David has performed in France, Belgium, Singapore and Japan. Solo performances include the Bartók Viola Concerto with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela; Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher with the Medellín Philharmonic; and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in Madrid and Valladolid with violinists Gordan Nikolić and Alina Ibragimova. He is one of the founders and the principal viola of BandArt, and has been a frequent guest principal with groups such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He is also a frequent participant in chamber music festivals around the world.
When not playing classical music David actively explores other musical genres, which has led to collaborations with many of Spain’s leading musicians and dancers. Since 2006 he has worked with the SaludArte Foundation on projects including concerts and workshops for people with special needs, in situations of social exclusion or in hospitals or prisons. In collaboration with SaludArte, Lisarco Dance and the New World Symphony, he took part in the collective creation of Synergy, a show for four musicians and five dancers that includes functionally diverse artists. Synergy was premiered in June 2013 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and since has been staged in Barcelona, Valladolid, Madrid, Miami, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Rotterdam.
David has coached youth orchestras in Spain, France, Venezuela, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the USA, and was for twelve years viola teacher at the Musikene Conservatory in San Sebastián, Spain.
After serving six years as Principal Viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, David now lives in Cologne, where he is Professor of String Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
Amy Norrington’s sincere musicianship and ability to convey her profound love of the music makes her a popular partner in the international chamber music world.
Her musical generosity attracts world class musicians to share in unique concert experiences, one of the most renowned being Festival Resonances of which she is the founder and artistic director.
Acclaimed by the press for her honesty and singing sound, Amy enjoys an international career as a chamber musician, soloist and guest principle cellist in orchestras throughout Europe.
She collaborates with world class musicians such as Jeremy Denk, Philippe Graffin, Alina Ibragimova, Steven Isserlis, Pekka Kuusisto, Aleksandar Madzar, Denes Varjon and Antje Weithaas and is regularly invited to play at festivals and in all the main concert halls in Europe and beyond. Recent highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the Liszt Academy Hall in Budapest.
Amy is a member of the Valo Quartet and of the Fortepiano Trio Talisma.
She performs in a Duo with the pianist Piet Kuijken and also with the guitarist Antigoni Goni.
Amy Norrington is Professor of Cello at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven and of Chamber Music at the Orpheus Institute in Gent. She regularly gives masterclasses at The Royal Academy of Music in London, RNCM and the Brussels Conservatoire.
Amy enjoys mentoring young chamber ensembles and in 2018 she founded the Resonances Chamber Music Academy in Belgium which attracts some of the best music students from all over the world.
Martijn Vink has established an unusually varied career as soloist, chamber musician, teacher and most recently as a conductor.
Since 1993, he has settled in Brussels, where he focuses on chamber music in all its forms. He is an open-minded musician in demand and his repertoire stretches from early medieval to contemporary music.
In addition to his longstanding commitments to ensembles Oxalys and Het Collectief, with which he received the Klara award “Musician of the Year” several times, he plays as a chamber musician in various groups throughout Europe.
In 2012 he founded Taurus Quartet, a dynamic string quartet that quickly made a name on the international scene.
Martijn has given performances of the cello concertos of Saint Saens, Lalo, Martinu, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Martinu , Dvorak and CPE Bach with various orchestras in Europe.
He has played with many inspiring musicians throughout his career.
Martijn is co-founder and director of the Festival Resonances.
Martijn Vink was Professor at the Utrecht Conservatory from 2006-2010 and is currently Professor at the Luca School of arts of the University of Leuven. He is a passionate and very dedicated teacher in demand and is regularly invited to give masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Chetham’s School for Music in Manchester, The High School for Arts in Hong Kong , Faculty of Music in Sao Paulo, the Summer Academies in Libramont and Murcia in Spain, among others.
As a chamber musician he has made thirty CD recordings many of which have won critical acclaim and prizes in the international music press.