| Masterclasses in Germany | May 2, 2005  |
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ITG European News correspondent Emile Meuffels reports on two masterclasses in Germany. The workshops at the Sauerland Herbst Festival and the Trumpet Masterclass at Schloss Weikersheim had Wolfgang Guggenberger and Klaus Schuhwerk in common, hence this portmanteau report spanning three months. Sauerland Herbst Festival 2004 The Sauerland Herbst Festival is a major brass festival held every Autumn (Herbst) in Sauerland (a region of Germany). 2004 saw the festival take place for the fifth time. For the general public, brass concerts are held all over the region. From October 24 to November 14, concerts were held by artists and ensembles such as German Brass, Women in Brass, Canadian Brass, das Rennquintett and many more. From October 25 to 29 a workshop for brass instruments was held. The teachers were Frits Damrow, Peter Leiner, Wolfgang Guggenberger and Klaus Schuhwerk (Trumpet), Tom Swartman (French Horn), Werner Schrietter (Trombone), Steven Mead (Euphonium) and Jon Sass (Tuba) Over the years, this workshop has grown significantly. In total there were about seventy students, of whom forty were trumpet players. All these musicians stayed in the Andreas Hermes Akademie in Bad Fredeburg where the lessons were also held. Every student had at least one lesson a day with the teacher of his or her choice. The rest of the day the students were free to study or listen to other lessons The teachers were of international stature. Frits Damrow is principal trumpet of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and trumpet teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Peter Leiner is a trumpet player with the German brass quintet Das Rennquintet and trumpet teacher at the Saarbrücken Hochschule für Musik. Wolfgang Guggenberger is the newly appointed Professor of Trumpet at the Staatliche Musikhochschule Trossingen and Klaus Schuhwerk is Professor of Trumpet at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt and the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel. On Thursday afternoon there was a workshop by Steven Mead for all the students. Steven Mead talked about the technical aspects of brass playing and performed some dazzling pieces of great virtuosity. On Friday afternoon there was a farewell concert in which all students played in ensembles. In the weekend following this masterclass there were two additional masterclasses. From October 29 to 31 there was a special masterclass for brass bands, with teachers Steven Mead, Roger Webster and Nigel Boddice, and a masterclass for brass ensembles with teachers from Das Rennquintett: Peter Leiner and Uwe Zaiser (Trumpet), Sjön Scott (French Horn), Jochen Scheerer (Trombone) and Ralf Rudolph (Tuba).
Trumpet Masterclass at Schloss Weikersheim From January 27 to 30, 2005 a trumpet masterclass was held in Weikersheim. This masterclass was organized by the Förderverein Blechbläsernachwuchs E.V.. This organization is founded to stimulate young brass players. They have a large collection of brass instruments which students can borrow, and they provide interest-free loansfor students to study or buy instruments and organize a number of masterclasses. This masterclass for trumpet in the beautiful Weikersheim castle featured teachers Wolfgang Guggenberger and Klaus Schuhwerk. In addition Ulrich Köbl (former hornist of the Munich Philharmonic and the Bayrischen Rundfunk Orchestra and chairman of the Förderverein) provided mentales Trainung, that is, sessions on the use of psychological methods in support of musical study and performance, such as visualization, silent practice, relaxation techniques and so on. To make sure that every student had enough time with the teachers, there was a maximum number of 16 students. Each day there were two group lessons with the teachers. Because the students were divided into two groups, there was enough time for each student to work with the teacher during to group lesson. In addition, each student had one private lesson with each teacher. On Saturday, a piano player was present to accompany the students during the lessons and on the concert on Saturday evening. An additional masterclass organised by the Förderverein was the Masterclass in Trumpet, Horn and Trombone, held from April 13 to 16, 2005 at Schloss Weikersheim with teachers Klaus Schuhwerk (trumpet), Christian Lampert (French Horn) and Oliver Siefert (trombone). Links: Frits Damrow: Peter Leiner: Wolfgang Guggenberger: Klaus Schuhwerk: Update: 7th May 2005. Wolfgang Guggenberger is now in Trossingen with a new professorial appointment at the Staatliche Musikhochschule there. Text and web links updated.
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