Opera Conducting Masterclass with the State Opera Stara Zagora, Bulgaria / 15-24 SEPTEMBER 2025
REPERTOIRE
- Carmen by Georges
- Madama Butterfly by Giaccomo Puccini
Both operas are fully-staged and sung in their original language. Our Opera Conducting Masterclass is limited to the first eight conductors who apply, are accepted, and confirm their places with a deposit. An unlimited number of auditors will be accepted at the reduced rate of EUR 480.
PROBABLY THE BEST TRAINING IN OPERA CONDUCTING
EACH CONDUCTOR RECEIVES
- private and group coaching
- 60 minutes of orchestra rehearsal time
- 45 minutes of choir rehearsal time
- 60 minutes of Sitzprobe/Italiana rehearsal time
- ca. 1/4 of rehearsal with piano and cast / soloists for the opera they conduct in performance
- 1/4 of Generalprobe / dress rehearsal for the opera they conduct in performance
- 1/4 of an opera to conduct in public performance
In our suggested and standard format, each active-participant conductor conducts a full act or ca. 1/4 of one of the operas in a public performance, in addition to having much rehearsal time on the other.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send us the following:
- your CV
- links to recent examples of your conducting
- if accepted, a deposit of €750 will guarantee your place
MASTERCLASS FEES AND PAYMENT
€750 – deposit, refundable if the conductor cancels before 15 August 2025 for any substantial reason, such as health problems, impossibility to get a visa or any other such reasons. In case of refunds, a waiting period of 4 – 6 months is to be expected.
€2.000 – balance fee no later than one week before the first day of the Masterclass if sent. This may also be paid in cash on site on the first day. The balance fee, once paid, is non-refundable due to the financial obligations to the institution.
A limited number of passive participants / auditors will also be accepted for a fee of €480, exclusive of accommodation, transport or meals.
BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION FOR BANK WIRE TRANSFERS
Bank name: Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG
Name on account: Blue Danube Violins – Streichinstrumentehandel u. Musikimpresario GmbH
IBAN: AT03 2011 1851 8917 0500
BIC: GIBAATWWXXX
Reason for payment: Masterclass deposit fee (please send EUR only).
Photos from the Opera Conducting Masterclass in May 2024 & February 2025
DAY-BY-DAY CONDUCTING MASTERCLASS SCHEDULE
| Monday, 15 September | 10.00 – 14.00
14.00 – 20.00 |
Orchestra / Choir Rehearsal, Carmen
Cast Rehearsal, Carmen |
| Wednesday, 17 September | 10.00-14.00 | Sitzprobe / Italiana, Carmen |
| Thursday, 18 September | 11.00
16.00 |
Stage Rehearsal, Carmen
General probe / Dress rehearsal, Carmen |
| Friday, 19 September | 10.00 – 12.00
19.00 |
Orchestra / Choir Rehearsal, Madama Butterfly
Public Public Performance, CARMEN |
| Saturday, 20 September | 10.00 – 12.00
15.00 |
Orchestra / Choir Rehearsal, Madama Butterfly Cast Rehearsal, Madama Butterfly |
| Sunday, 21 September | 14.00 | Sitzprobe / Italiana, Madama Butterfly |
| Monday, 22 September | 14.00 | Stage rehearsal, Madama Butterfly |
| Tuesday, 23 September | 16.00 – 19.00 | General rehearsal, Madama Butterfly |
| Wednesday, 24 September | 19.00 | Public performance, MADAMA BUTTERFLY |
TRANSPORT AND ACCOMMODATION
The closest airport to Stara Zagora is the Sofia International Airport in the Bulgarian capital. State Opera Stara Zagora will organize free / gratis ground transport from the airport to our accommodation and back for all conductors (2 hours and 20 minutes by car/minivan). Please arrive or be at the airport on Sunday, 2 February.
IVAYLO KRINCHEV
Ivaylo Krinchev graduated from the National Music Academy Prof. Pancho Vladigerov in Sofia with diplomas in Choir Conducting (the class of Prof. Liliya Gyuleva), Opera and Symphony Conducting (under the guidance of Dimitar Manolov and Prof. Ivan Vulpe). He participated in the masterclasses in Symphony Conducting of Prof. Ilya Musin, Saint Petersburg, and Prof. Karl Osterreicher, Vienna.
Between 1990 and 1996, Maestro Krinchev was chief conductor at the Burgas Opera and Burgas Philharmonic . In the period 1996 – 1999, he was the director of the State Burgas Opera. Under his guidance, for the first time in the Burgas Opera were staged Mozart’s Don Giovanni Bellini’s Norma. In 2000, he worked for the production agency “Eurostage” in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as a member of which he directed numerous opera spectacles in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland.
His teaching carrier began in 1993, at first as a part-time lecturer at the National Music Academy in Opera Singing with a Conductor and Opera and Symphony Conducting. In 2001, he became a full-time lecturer, and in 2005 associate professor. He has been vice-rector of the National Music Academy Prof. Pancho Vladigerov since 2016.
Since 2002 he has held masterclasses in Conducting and Opera Interpretation in different universities, and guest-performed with symphony and chamber orchestras. He has recordings with The Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian National Television.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi7TtATF4lE
Please note:
Master teacher, repertoire and dates subject to change. Blue Danube Musikimpresario reserves the right to cancel its masterclasses and/or competitions due to insufficient enrollment, illness of the coach, force majeure, or any other circumstance or event for which Blue Danube Musikimpresario cannot be held responsible. In case of illness or death of the coach, we reserve the right to provide a substitute teacher and cancellations are not accepted.
