Summer School of Baroque Music with Andreas Scholl and Tamar Halperin

6 April 2020, 1:00
Summer School of Baroque Music with Andreas Scholl and Tamar Halperin

Czech Ensemble Baroque again organizes Summer School of Baroque Music in Holešov Chateau. The eighteenth season carries the theme of Spiritual vs. Secular in the works of J. S. Bach. Singers and instrumentalists who are already experienced in the interpretation of early music and new entrants are welcome. This year's lecturers are countertenor Andreas Scholl and his wife, harpsichordist Tamar Halperin.

Singers and instrumentalists who already have experience in the interpretation of early music and new entrants – all of them are invited to the 18th year of the Summer School of Baroque Music, which is hosted by the Holešov Chateau from 7 to 16 August. This popular and sought-after international music workshop organized by the Czech Ensemble Baroque is a unique opportunity to gain valuable theoretical and practical experience, and work intensively under the leadership of first-class lecturers from all over Europe. The culmination will traditionally be three large joint final concerts featuring the cantatas of J. S. Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140) and Tönet, ihr Pauken! (BWV 214). Application forms for the Summer School of Baroque Music 2020 are available on the web until 1 June.

Summer School of Baroque Music (its Czech acronym is LŠBH) meets with great acclaim from professional and general public. Practical lessons are extended by a number of lectures and stimulating interviews about people and with people moving in the field of early music and its learned interpretation. All artistic categories involved in the rendering of compositions (choir, solos, ensembles, organ positive, harpsichord, violin, oboe, cello, flute and others) are taught. Apart from attending solo lessons with their instructors, joint rehearsing of the work is an invaluable experience for them. More advanced students have, apart from practicing the main composition, their own curriculum, the results of which they can present with their teachers at two students' concerts, and especially in the interpretation competition for an output with an orchestra and a contract with the Znojmo Music Festival. “This year's 18th LŠBH is a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach. It wants to present students and listeners not only the famous works of this Baroque giant on a spiritual level, but also to show that Bach was a real master in the field of dramatic art. Cantata 214 is an example of what it would look like if Bach wrote an opera,” says conductor Roman Válek, who founded LŠBH in 2003, and it is still held under his supervision.

Among the lecturers is one of the most sought-after countertenors – Andreas Scholl and his wife, harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, who defended her dissertation and received a doctorate at Juilliard School in New York on the subject of J.S. Bach. A "Masterclass" will be open to those interested in studying with these lecturers, where only the best applicants will be selected on the basis of a demo recording. The international team of lecturers further consists of Roman Válek (orchestra class), Anastasia Baraviera (cello), Luise Haugk (oboe) and Dagmar Šašková (singing), Petr Zajíček and Josef Žák (Baroque violin), Jakub Kydlíček and Michaela Koudelková (recorder), Tereza Válková (chorus) and others. 

Chamber and cantata concerts in 2020:

9 August  2020, 20:00 – Concert of lecturers, Holešov Chateau

10 August  2020, 20:00 – 1st Students' Concert – Spiritual, St. Anne's Church Holešov

11 August  2020, 20:00 – 2nd  Students' Concert – Chateau Night, Holešov Chateau

12 August  2020, 19:30 – Closing Concert, Holešov Chateau

13 August  2020, 19:00 – Closing Concert, St. Peter and Paul's Church in Kelč

14 August  2020, 16:00 – Closing Concert, Kroměříž, greenhouse of the Flower Garden (Květná zahrada)

All concerts are open to the public. Tickets will be available from 1 August  2020 at the Town Information Centre – nám. Dr. E. Beneše 17, Holešov, +420 573 395 344 or via SMSticket. Tickets will also be sold at the gate one hour before the concert.

Andreas Scholl / photo by Patrick Walter

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