Opera Conducting Masterclass I – 2024 State Opera Stara Zagora, Bulgaria & Maestro Niels Muus / 20-29 MAY
REPERTOIRE:
IL TROVATORE by Giuseppe Verdi
LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (THE PEARL FISHERS) by Georges Bizet
All operas are sung in their original language.
The Blue Danube Opera Conducting Masterclass 2024 is limited to the first qualified 8 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 350.
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
- recent examples of your conducting
IF ACCEPTED, please send the deposit of €750.
MASTERCLASS FEES AND PAYMENT
€750 – deposit, refundable if the conductor cancels before 20 March 2024 for any substantial reason, such as health problems, impossibility to get a visa or any other such reasons. The reason must be in any case substantiated. 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 €350, exclusive of accommodation, transport or meals.
BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION FOR BANK WIRE TRANSFERS
Bank name: BAWAG P.S.K.
Name on account: Blue Danube Musikimpresario GmbH
IBAN: AT22 1400 0020 1000 6026
BIC: BAWAATWW
Reason for payment: Masterclass deposit fee (please send EUR only).
DAY-BY-DAY CONDUCTING MASTERCLASS SCHEDULE
MONDAY, 20 MAY
10.00 – 13.00 — orchestra / choir rehearsal, Il trovatore
14.00 – 17.00 — cast rehearsal, Il trovatore
18.00 – 20.00 orchestra / choir rehearsal, Il Trovatore
TUESDAY, 21 MAY
10.00-13.00 — Sitzprobe / Italiana I, Il trovatore
17.00-19.00 — Sitzprobe / Italiana II, Il trovatore
WEDNESDAY, 22 MAY
11.00 — Stage rehearsal, Il trovatore
16.00 — General probe / Dress rehearsal, Il trovatore
THURSDAY, 23 MAY
10.00 – 12.00 — orchestra / choir rehearsal I, Les pecheurs de perles
19.00 — Public performance, IL TROVATORE
FRIDAY, 24 MAY
Day off
SATURDAY, 25 MAY
14.00 — Cast rehearsal, Les pecheurs de perles
SUNDAY, 26 MAY
14.00 – 17.00 — Stage rehearsal, Les pecheurs de perles
MONDAY, 27 MAY
10.00-13.00– Orchestra / choir rehearsal II, Les pecheurs de perles
18.00-20.00 — Sitzprobe / Italiana I, Les pecheurs de perles
TUESDAY, 28 MAY
10.00-13.00 — Sitzprobe / Italiana II, Les pecheurs de perles
16.00 — Generalprobe / dress rehearsal, Les pecheurs de perles
WEDNESDAY, 29 MAY
19.00 – Public performance, LES PECHEURS DE PERLES
TRANSPORT AND ACCOMMODATION
The closest airport to Stara Zagora is the Sofia International Airport in the Bulgarian capital. State Opera Stara Zagora will organize 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, 19 May.
NIELS MUUS The Viennese conductor with Danish and American roots, Niels Muus is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Denmark. He furthered his studied at the Conservatorio San Martino (Bologna), the Mozarteum (Salzburg), the Ecole Normale de Musique (Paris), as well as with maestri Franco Ferrara, Carlo Zecchi, Tatjana Nikolajewna and Jakob Gimpel.Between 1992 and 1999, Niels Muus was a principal conductor at the Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck, and between 1999 and 2003, conductor and casting director at the Volksoper Wien. Recognized as an expert in the field of opera, Niels Muus has conducted some major productions worldwide. Among others, notable was a televised production by RAI of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’amore” from the Macerata Opera Festival (ARTHAUS MUSIK), Rossini`s “L`Assedio di Corinto” for the Culture Olympics in Greece, Dvorak’s “Rusalka” for the international H.C. Andersen Year in Moscow and Denmark and Verdi`s “Aida” at the Worker`s Stadium in Beijing (broadcasted by CCTV).
As a symphonic conductor, Niels Muus has given performances in concert halls such as Berliner Philharmonie, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Chicago Symphony Hall, National Arts Center Ottawa, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Tokyo Opera City, and Tivoli Copenhagen conducting orchestras such as MDR Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Symphoniker, Orchestra Arturo Toscanini, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.
Niels Muus is an internationally renowned pedagogue. He gave master classes with institutions such as Conservatorio Monteverdi (Bolzano), Netherlands Opera Studio (Amsterdam), Opera Studio New National Theater Tokyo, Opera Academy Korean National Opera, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Opera Academy (San Francisco).
Currently, Niels Muus is engaged as the artistic advisor for Mozarthaus Vienna and Otto Edelmann Society, and music director of Musikfestival Steyr, Austria. From September 2013 he was the newly appointed professor/director of the opera department of Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversitaet der Stadt.
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, Blue Danube Musikimpresario reserves the right to provide a substitute teacher and cancellations are not accepted.
