Kronberg Academy
Kronberg Academy is an international cultural institution based in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany, for the education and support of highly gifted young violinists, violists and especially cellists. Studies are supported by a biennial Cello Festival and the International Pablo Casals Cello Competition. Mstislav Rostropovich was a patron from its foundation until his death.[1]
Organisation
Founded in 1993 as the International Chamber Music Academy Kronberg (and renamed in 1999), Kronberg Academy is based in Kronberg but is also represented in the US and South Korea. Raimund Trenkler has been Kronberg Academy’s managing director and artistic director since the institution was founded.
Kronberg Academy has a bachelor's and a master's study program for young soloists that is unmatched in Europe called Kronberg Academy Masters. This exclusive course of study has been designed for outstanding young musicians who have the potential for an international career as soloists. Its curriculum serves the special needs and abilities of young artists.
The academy provides these degree programs to a maximum of 12 young soloists in cooperation with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (three years). In addition, it provides a program called Kronberg Academy Further Masters Studies (one to two years) under the direction of Stephen Potts, (formerly at the Yehudi Menuhin School).
The academy's teachers include Ana Chumachenco and Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Nobuko Imai (viola), and Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman (cello). Other internationally renowned artists such as Gidon Kremer (violin), Yuri Bashmet and Tabea Zimmermann (viola), and Young-Chang Cho (cello) have taught as visiting professors.
Yuri Bashmet, Marta Casals Istomin and Gidon Kremer are members of the academy's artistic council. Mstislav Rostropovich was a member until his death in 2007.
Activities
In honour of Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007), who dubbed Kronberg the “world capital of the cello” in 1997,[2] well-known personalities come together for an “Appointment with Slava” every year on 27 April, the anniversary of Rostropovich’s death, at the bust of Rostropovich sculpted by Anna Franziska Schwarzbach in Kronberg’s Schulgarten.
A number of internationally acknowledged events are arranged by Kronberg Academy with the aim of providing inspiration, training and further development opportunities for young musicians. These mostly biennial events turn Kronberg into a meeting place for artists from all over the world:
- Cello Festival
- Viola Festival
- Cello Masterclasses
- Violin Masterclasses
- Kronberg Academy in Seoul (South Korea)
- Chamber music project: Chamber Music Connects the World
- International Pablo Casals Cello Competition (every four years)[3]
- Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, Berlin, arranged jointly with the Berlin University of the Arts (every four years)
- Projects for children and teenagers: Classic for Kids, Mit Musik - Miteinander
Kronberg Academy’s Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory provides basic cello instruction for children and teenagers in Kronberg. It is one of three representatives of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in the state of Hesse.
Foundations
Internationally renowned artists have set up foundations in Kronberg:
- Rostropovich Cello Foundation[4]
- Gidon Kremer Foundation
- Yuri Bashmet Viola Foundation
References
- ↑ the Strad 1 December 2007
- ↑ Goliath Kronberg Academy's Cello Festival.(World Capital of the Cello), 1 January 2006
- ↑ Music & Vision Tess Crebbin, 2004
- ↑ Deutsche Bank 3 October 2007