2002 Edition

Master Classes

From July 1st to July 21st, 2002 the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander, Cantabria 2002, housed more than one-hundred young musicians and fifteen eminent maestros of international standing who gave violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano, voice, chamber music and orchestra master classes.

Such master lessons gave the participants an excellent opportunity to directly work with professors selected amongst the best professionals in the world. The diversity of the participants favoured an enriching working atmosphere and offered a magnificent framework for an encounter between the different schools and styles represented by the most qualified musicians who met in Santander. The academic activity was developed at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música Jesús de Monasterio.

As was the case during the 2001 event, the participants have been directly invited by the organization of the festival: The Artistic Director of the Encounter, has carried out auditions in six of the most prestigious European music schools and academies: Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), Royal Academy of Music (London), Hochschule für Musik (Cologne), Orchester-Akademie (Berlin), Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (Paris) and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid). The advice and help of the professors participating in the Encounter has been a decisive factor in the selection.

The Encounter will be participating fully in the Virtual School of Music project. Therefore, most of the lessons were audio-video recorded.

Instrument, voice, orchestra and Music Chamber

Chamber Music will also be essential during the master classes of the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander, Cantabria 2002. These courses will make possible the creation of an important number of new chamber ensembles amongst the Encounter’s participants, thus favoring truly unique music exhanges. The professors will also be involved in the setting-up of these groups by contributing their knowledge and experience.

The groups to be formed during the Encounter will try to achieve the greatest possible variety of instrumental and vocal formations. Six young string quartets of recognized prestige from Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland have also been invited to participate and to benefit from intense master classes.

The Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander, Cantabria 2002 intends to achieve a highly professional working atmosphere It also intends to supply the participants not only with a better knowledge of singing and of all instruments but also to practice an extensive and wide-ranging repertory. Its purpose is to offer complete musical and artistic teachings within a highly professional working environment so that participants may be able to express themselves in the solo, chamber music and orchestra concerts with a wealth of inspiration and energy.

Orchestra

The rehearsals of the symphony orchestra to be formed during the Encounter will take place starting July 1st and soloists for the concerts will be chosen among the young artists participanting in the festival. The symphony orchestra will offer two concerts this year under the baton of Péter Csaba. One of the concerts will be held at the Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales de Santander and the other at the Santa María Church in Laredo.
The chamber orchestra of the Encounter, whose members will be the participants in the Academy-Festival, will appear in two of the concerts at the Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales de Santander, also conducted by Maestro Péter Csaba, - one of them with the participation of Teresa Berganza. and another with works of different composers of the XIX and XX centuries.
The rehearsals of the symphony orchestra will be held at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria. Admission to such rehearsals will be free and open to the public – the only limitation being the capacity of the hall.

Opera

One of he most important activities of the Academy took place between July 20th and July 31st when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Cosí fan tutte took place. Teresa Berganza tutored the preparation of the singers, with the collaboration of István Cserján. Antoni Ros-Marbà was in charge of the musical and orchestral direction, with Vincent Boussard as stage manager. The Choir of the Palacio de Festivales of Cantabria was trained by Esteban Sanz.
This activity offered the singers the opportunity of working intensively with some of the best professionals of the opera world, and the members of the orchestra were able to directly experience the team’s work and the mise en scène.