Tag Archives: St.

PIANO – Prof. Konrad Engel (Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Irène Zandel

Born in the region of Frankfurt/Main, Konrad Maria Engel grew up in a mainly scientifically oriented family. However it came clear already during his early childhood that music would be his vocation some day. More than a dozen scholarships, awards and many prizes at international competitions reinforced that impression over the years, most importantly to mention the German National Music Competition, Bach-Competition Leipzig and a first prize at the international Chopin-Competition Hanover.

His concert career – now almost 40 years of stage experience – took him all over the northern hemisphere, across Europe, Asia and the US. As a soloist he performed with numerous renowned orchestras and at several international festivals. His repertoire did never exclude any style or period and included all kinds of keyboards from cembalo to fortepiano and various historic grand pianos.

Since his younger days Konrad Engel is also very much dedicated to chamber music and Kunstlied. Just to mention a few long term highlights, there was the applauded „Trio Corrado” together with Konradin Seitzer (Violin) and Konrad Haesler (Cello) as well as various performances together with Leonid Gorokhov, Markus Becker, Mareike Morr, Sharon Kam and many other renowned partners. Beyond that he was member of bigger ensembles as well as conducting two chamber orchestras for several years.

Over the last two decades he discovered his great passion for teaching and rather focused his career on education since several years. After getting first experiences in teaching at the municipal music school Hanover, a lectureship at the University for Arts Bremen in 2011 was an important leap.

From 2012 to 2018 he held a substitutional professorship at Hanover Music University, where he first got in touch with the education of highly talented young students. In 2017 he got a full professorship at the University „Hanns Eisler“ Berlin and the honour to become head of piano department at the „Musikgymnasium C.P.E. Bach“ in addition.

By now amongst his students are many prizewinners at international competitions such as Sendai/Japan, Aarhus/Denmark, Mendelssohn/Berlin, Schumann/Zwickau, Liszt/Weimar etc.

He started his own academic studies in music education at Hannover Music University and

finished his third Diploma with the „Konzertexamen“ in 2006 after being a student of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling for many years. His education was also enriched by important impulses from John O’Conor (Wilhelm-Kempff-Academy Positano), Bernhard Wetz and Gerhard Schroth (Frankfurt) as well as chamber music lessons by Vassilia Efstathiadou, Antje Weithaas, Grainne Dunne.

In his sparse free time Konrad Engel is interested in many other subjects, such as astronomy and technology but also visual arts, history and philosophy – never to forget about classic cars.

His motto actually couldn’t be described better than in Eisler’s words: „Who seeks to understand music only, won’t understand music at all.“

Dates: 

Arrival: Wednesday, May 28, 2025, until 2 pm
Closing concert: June 1st, 2025, 5 pm
Departure: June 2nd, 2025, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Engel, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: April 28, 2025

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €540,-

Foyerkonzert: Gefühlvoll und wild

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Aus Süd-Korea über die Musikhochschule Frankfurt führte es den jungen Pianisten Leo Kwon nach Bingen am Rhein, wo er nun seine neue Heimat gefunden hat.

Freuen Sie sich auf einen jungen Ausnahmepianisten, der in einem abwechslungsreichen Programm sowohl gefühlvoll, als auch virtuos sein Können und seine sensible Musikalität mit ganz unterschiedlichen Werken unter Beweis stellt:

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin in a-Moll (1726-27)

Allemande 
Trois de Mains 
Gavotte et six doubles

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Klaviersonate Nr. 1 f-Moll Op. 2 Nr. 1 (1795)

I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuett
IV. Prestissimo

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Albumblatt in e-Moll Op.117 (ca.1836)

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Scherzi
Nr.2, Op. 31 in b-Moll (1837)
Nr.3, Op. 39 in cis-Moll (1838-1839)

© Stéphane Kamwa

Leo Kwon wurde 1996 in Südkorea geboren und begann dort mit 13 Jahren Klavier zu spielen. Ganz am Beginn war es nur ein Hobby, aber schon bald spielte er mit großer Leidenschaft und Liebe. 2012 fing er eine musikalische Ausbildung an der High School of Arts in Busan an. Im Jahre 2014 kam er mit 17 Jahren nach Deutschland, um einen Traum zu verwirklichen: Pianist in einem Kulturland zu werden. Im Rahmen einer Begabtenförderung konnte er ein Klavierstudium bei Prof. Eike Wernhard an der Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt aufnehmen. Dieses schloss er 2020 erfolgreich ab und nahm anschließend ein solistisches Masterstudium auf.

Im selben Jahr wurde er Stipendiat des Deutschlandstipendiums und bekam zudem die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Bereits während des Studiums hat er an mehreren internationalen Wettbewerben teilgenommen und dabei Erfolge erzielt (Xabia, Spanien: Platz 3; Mailand, Italien: Platz 2) und spielte mit Orchester im Finale des Klavierwettbewerbes in Nizza.

Derzeit wohnt Leo Kwon in Bingen am Rhein. Neben seinem Masterstudium gibt er regelmäßig Konzerte und ist zudem als Klavierdozent an der städtischen Musikschule in Bingen tätig.

Sonntag, den 22. Januar 2023 
Uhrzeit: 17 Uhr
Ort: Glasfoyer der Rheinfelshalle in Sankt Goar (Heerstraße 139)

Der Eintritt zu dem Konzert ist frei. Um Spenden wird gebeten.

Der Konzertort ist barrierefrei zugänglich!

Es findet die am jeweiligen Veranstaltungstag gültige Corona-Bekämpfungsverordnung des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz Anwendung.

Bitte melden Sie sich namentlich unter Angabe, an welchem Konzert Sie teilhaben möchten, über unser Kontaktformular an.

Kontaktieren Sie uns auch gerne direkt:

0173-5728995 (telefonisch, SMS, WhatsApp, Signal)
tickets@sgimfa.com

PIANO – Prof. Jacob Leuschner (Hochschule für Musik Detmold)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher:

© Sudi, Detmold

Jacob Leuschner, 
born in Freiburg in 1974, studied in Freiburg and Lübeck. His most important teachers were Helmut Barth, Michel Béroff, Konrad Elser and Leonard Hokanson.

Since 1989, he has performed as a soloist and sought-after chamber musician in many European countries, Japan, South Korea, China and the USA, and has been invited to numerous international festivals. He has been a regular participant in the funding project Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler (Federal Selection Concerts Young Artists) held by Deutscher Musikrat.

The awards he has won at major piano competitions testify to his artistic stature: Viotti (Vercelli), Beethoven (Vienna), Schubert (Dortmund), Mozart (Salzburg), Leeds, Rina Sala Gallo (Monza), Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Deutscher Hochschulwettbewerb – to name just the most important ones.

He is also the recipient of the Possehl Music Prize, the Kai-Uwe von Hassel Prize and the
Wiesbaden Mozart Prize.


Jacob Leuschner taught at the University of Music Lübeck, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar. From 2008 to 2014, he held a professorship at the University of Music in Cologne, and then followed a call to join the University of Music in Detmold. He regularly gives masterclasses in many European countries, Japan, China and Korea.

His repertoire ranges from the Virginalists to the present; one focus is the masters of Viennese classical music. He has performed the complete cycles of Mozart’s, Beethoven’s and Schubert’s piano sonatas at several occasions.
He also works as a juror at international piano competitions and as a publisher, and has dealt intensively with historical keyboard instruments. He is the founder and artistic director of the Brahms Piano Competition in
Detmold.

His discography includes not only numerous chamber music pieces, such as the complete works for cello and piano by Reger with Guido Schiefen (Oehms Classics), but also the late Beethoven sonatas and Liszt transcriptions. In addition to two solo CDs, he released a complete recording of Mozart’s sonatas for piano and violin in 2017 with violinist Keiko Urushihara (Nippon Acoustic Records), which was met with enthusiasm by the Japanese trade press and awarded the "Excellence Award" by the Japanese State Office for Culture.

In 2019, his recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations was published by the label „Perfect noise“.

Today, Jacob Leuschner is one of the most distinguished and versatile German pianists of his generation.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, September 10, 2026, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, September 13, 2026, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, September 14, 2026, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Leuschner, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: August 10, 2026

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €490,-

PIANO – Prof. Patrick O’Byrne (University of the Arts Bremen)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

© Artem Yasynskyy

Pianist Patrick O’Byrne was appointed in 1985 to a professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart, assuming later the senior chair at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen.

His concert performances worldwide have included appearances with renowned orchestras and illustrious conductors, among others the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Bochumer Sinfoniker, the New York Virtuosi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Sir Charles Groves, Franz-Paul Decker and Albert Rosen. Born in Dublin and raised in New Zealand, the pianist has received international awards for his interpretations of French, Spanish and contemporary music. His repertoire encompasses all styles.
 

파 트 릭 오 번 – Patrick O ’B yrne

Biography
더블린 태생 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 대학졸업
퀸 엘리자베스 2세 예술 장학금, 영국 런던과 파리, 국립 프라이부르크 대학졸업
(독일 DAAD 장학금)
Rosa Sabater, Alicia de Larrocha, Kendall Taylor, Vlado Perlemuter사사

1978년 뉴질랜드 음악대상, 동경 국제 콩쿨, 스페인 Jaén 콩쿨,
영국 Dudley 콩쿨, 마요르카 콩쿨 입상,1983년 José Iturbi 국제 콩쿨 대상.
스페인 음악대상, 국제비평가상

New York Virtuosi, Bochumer Sinfoniker, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, RTE Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra 등 유명오케스트라와 협연 및 TV 및 라디오 녹음 출연.

독일 국립 슈투트가르트 음대 교수 및 부학장 역임.
브레맨 국립음대 교수 및 학장 역임

그의 피아노 테크닉과 해석은 많은 국제 콩쿨 및 유명 마스터클래스에서 탁월한 교수
법과 해석으로 정평이 나 있으며, 훌륭한 제자들을 키워내고 있다.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, June 1st, 2023, until 2 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, June 4, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, June 5, 2023, after 2 pm

Course Description:

Piano-works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music; preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

Piano solo or for four hands          

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. O’Byrne, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: May 22nd, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €520,-

帕特里克·奥比恩 (Patrick O’Byrne）出生于都柏林 毕业于新西兰奥克兰大学

曾获伊丽莎白女王二世艺术奖学金，英国伦敦和巴黎毕业于弗莱堡国立大学 (德国DAAD奖学金)。 曾与 Janetta McStay、Rosa Sabater、Alicia de Larrocha、Kendall Taylor、Vlado Perlemuter等人 一起学习。

曾获（个人荣誉经历）： 1978 新西兰音乐奖，东京国际比赛，西班牙哈恩比赛，
1983年英国达德利比赛大奖、马略卡岛比赛大奖、何塞·伊图尔比国际比赛大奖、 西班牙音乐奖、国际评论家奖。

曾与纽约Virtuosi、波鸿交响乐团、德国室内爱乐乐团、新西兰交响乐团、奥克兰爱乐乐团、RTE交响乐团、KBS交响乐团等著名乐团合作，并出现在电视和广播唱片中。

录制并发行了多张室内乐CD，包括拉威尔所有歌曲、Granados (Goyescas) 和莫扎特钢琴协奏曲。
曾于德国斯图加特音乐大学担任教授兼副校长。
于德国不来梅国立音乐大学担任教授兼院长。

他的钢琴技法和理解在许多国际比赛和著名大师班（美国、日本、巴西、意大利、中国、韩国等国家）中以出色的教学方法和解说而出名，培养出了大批优秀的学生。

 

VIOLIN – Prof. Marianne Boettcher (Berlin University of the Arts)/Kensei Yamaguchi

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

Marianne Boettcher, violinist from the famous Berlin musician family, studied in Berlin under Professor Willy Kirch and Professor Michael Schwalbé, rounding off her studies in Geneva under Professor Henryk Szeryng. She teaches at the University of the Arts Berlin. She has gotten great recognition for playing classic and romantic music and has also become known as an interpreter of new music. She has given the first performances of many works written for her by contemporary composers.

She has won many prizes and has made a number of recordings for radio, television and the records industry in Germany and abroad. Extended concert tours have taken her repeatedly to the USA, Japan, Russia and almost every other country in Europe (for example in Rheinsberg, Prague, Vienna and Tallinn). She has also been a frequent guest performer at the Berlin Festival, the International Heinrich Schütz Festival in Sweden, the German Bach Festival in Berlin and the Vienna Festival.

The german president Johannes Rau awarded her 2003 the The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Kensei Yamaguchi started playing piano at age five. At twelve, he won the All Japan Student Music Competition, which allowed him to join the Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, the most prestigious music school in Japan, under the direction of Professor Hiroko Edo. Upon graduation he received a German National Scholarship to further pursue his studies at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, under Professors Erich Andreas and Pascal Devoyon.

Mr.Yamaguchi has participated in numerous international piano competitions. He is the winner of Third Prize in Porto International Piano Competition, Portugal (1998), First Prize at Senigallia International Piano Competition, Italy (1999), and of the prestigious First Prize at Monte Carlo Piano Masters, Monaco (2000).

His numerous concert activities include solo performances with Das Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Filarmonica Marchigiana, Italy, Monte Carlo Orchestre Philharmonique, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In addition he has appeared in solo recitals and chamber music concerts in most European countries, Japan, and the USA.

Dates: 

Arrival: Thursday, April 27, 2023, until 12 pm
Closing concert: Sunday, April 31st, 2023, 5 pm
Departure: Monday, May 1st, 2023, until 12 pm

Course Description:

preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire:

works for violin from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Prof. Boettcher, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

NB: The total number of participants is limited to eight musicians.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: March 27, 2023

Tuition:

Course fee: €200,-
Accommodation/Facility Fee (obligatory): €200,-

VIOLA – Prof. Piotr Szumieł (Rostock University of Music and Drama)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teacher: 

Piotr Szumieł, born in Warsaw in 1977, belongs to the group of the most versatile violists of his generation. At a young age he was the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes at international competitions, including winning the Jan Rakowski Viola Competition in Poznan in 1998, the special prize at the 36th International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen in 2001, a 2nd prize at the 9th International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2002 in Pörtschach (Austria) and 3rd prize at the Vienna International Viola Competition in 2004.

Between 2002 and 2008 he was a member and principal violist of the Dresden Philharmonic and the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and is a sought-after juror and teacher on master classes. Piotr Szumiel has been doing very intensive educational work for many years – he is a lecturer for viola and chamber music at the College of Music „Carl Maria von Weber” (since 2005), between 2013-2018 he was a lecturer at the “Karol Szymanowski” Academy of Music in Katowice and from October 2019 at the University of Music and Drama in Rostock, where he has been a professor since April 2020.

Piotr Szumieł has played in London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Wiener Musikverein, Megaron in Athens, the Cologne Philharmonie, Citè de la musique Paris, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Konserthuset Stockholm, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Warsaw Philharmonic and much more…

As a chamber musician, he has worked together with the following artists: Alena Baeva, Martin Fröst, Gabriela Montero, István Várdai, Garrick Ohlsson, Vadym Kholodenko, Valentin Erben, Nils Mönkemeyer, Kevin Kenner, Igor Levit, Per Arne Glorvigen, Jörg Widmann, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Polina Leschenko, Ewa Kupiec.

As a soloist, Piotr Szumieł works with conductors such as José Maria Florêncio, Vladimir Kiradjiew, Anu Tali, Gérard Korsten, Hugh Wolf, Teowyn Evans, Ernst Kovacic, Petri Sakri, Baldur Bronnimann and has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Dresden Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Dresden, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice.

Piotr Szumieł studied at the „Fryderyk Chopin” Music Academy in his hometown in the viola class of Prof. Stefan Kamasa, where he graduated with distinction in 2001. Later, he continued his viola studies with Prof. Wolfgang Klos and chamber music with Prof. Johannes Meissl at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he also graduated with distinction in 2010.

In addition to his solo and didactic activities, he devotes himself intensively to the “Apollon Musagète Quartet”, founded in 2006. In the two years of its existence, this ensemble has not only gained outstanding recognition from critics, but also from the juries of major music competitions. After winning international music competitions in Vienna and Florence, the quartet quickly established itself as a fixture on the European music scene after receiving the 1st prize and almost all special prizes at the 57th ARD International Music Competition.

Piotr Szumieł is the recipient of the “Young Poland” scholarship program of the Minister for Culture and National Heritage and the “Burletti Buitoni Trust Award” (2014) for outstanding artistic achievements with the “Apollon Musagete Quartet”.

The artist conducted workshops and master classes in Austria, Germany, Hong Kong and Poland. He took part in the work of the jury at international viola and chamber music competitions in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Katowice and Meissen.

Dates: 
Arrival: Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022, until 12 pm
Closing concert: Friday, May 6, 2022, 7 pm
Departure: Saturday, May 7, 2022, until 12 pm

Contents: preparation for exams, concerts and competitions

Repertoire: Works from all periods: from Baroque over Classic and Romantic to Modern Music

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

For further impression, please visit our venue site.

This masterclass is already fully booked. Further applications are not possible. 

VOICE — Wolfgang Klose (University of Music Rostock)

Falko Hönisch Falko Hönisch |

Teachers: 

© Anne-Marie von Sarosdy

Stylistic versatility, authentic sound, and the synthesis of word and music form the fundamental pillars of singing for the tenor Wolfgang Klose. He received decisive artistic impulses from Thomas Heyer, Mario Hoff, and Konrad Jarnot, as well as in masterclasses with Francisco Araiza, Julie Kaufmann, and Kurt Widmer.

On the opera stage he has appeared in several lyric roles, including Tamino (The Magic Flute), Symon (The Beggar Student), and Pylades (Iphigenia in Tauris). In addition to independent productions, engagements have taken him, among others, to the Handel Festival in Halle, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and the stages of the City of Cologne.

His particular passion, however, is concert singing. His broad repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to contemporary modern works, with a focus on the cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque and Classical periods. As a guest at numerous festivals and concert venues in Germany and abroad (Gewandhaus Leipzig, Cologne Philharmonie, Essen Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Beethovenhalle Bonn, Wrocław Philharmonic, and many others), he performs equally with symphony orchestras and period-instrument ensembles, collaborating with renowned conductors.

In 2013, the Association of German Concert Choirs awarded him first prize at the Podium of Young Vocal Soloists. Radio and CD recordings document his artistic work, including releases with WDR, rbb, SWR, as well as Carus Verlag, Virgin Classics (formerly EMI France), and cpo.

A graduate of the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, he has been teaching successfully in courses since 2008 and at university level since 2010. After teaching assignments at various universities, he has led a voice class at the hmt Rostock since 2015. His students have achieved success in competitions and already appear as soloists on concert and opera stages.

In addition, he serves as a competition juror.

© Susanne Diesner

Christian von Gehren completed his studies in conducting and piano with distinction at the music universities in Karlsruhe and Copenhagen. His work as a conductor has taken him to major European orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, and the Munich Radio Orchestra, as well as to opera houses in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Copenhagen, Wiesbaden, and Leipzig.

He has also conducted at festivals in Bregenz, Birmingham, and Bergen. In 2016 he made his conducting debut in Shanghai with Orff’s Carmina Burana. From 2017 to 2020, Christian von Gehren was chief conductor of the Jönköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, with which he performed a wide symphonic repertoire from Mozart and Beethoven to Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, and Gustav Mahler. In the operatic field, he most recently conducted Bernstein’s On the Town and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia there.

He also has a strong interest in the oratorio repertoire: most recently he conducted Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Jönköping and the St John Passion in Essen. Work with young orchestral musicians is equally important to him: from 2009 to 2015 he was Musical Director of the Orff Academy of the Munich Radio Orchestra, an international orchestral academy that accompanied a production each summer at the Carl Orff Festival in Andechs. As chief conductor in Jönköping, he supported collaborations with the music universities in Gothenburg and Malmö in the fields of orchestral work and contemporary music. He is also active as a song accompanist and regularly gives masterclasses in the fields of Lied, opera, and oratorio, for example at the music universities in Oslo and Odense.

As a pianist, he has accompanied masterclasses by Christa Ludwig, Renata Scotto, and Ulf Bästlein.

From 2000 to 2003 he directed France’s largest state opera studio, the Centre National d’Insertion Professionnelle d’Artistes Lyriques. Since 2016, Christian von Gehren has taught orchestral conducting at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. Since 2022 he has also been affiliated with the HfMDK Frankfurt through teaching in the field of music theatre. In 2025, the Robert Schumann Hochschule appointed him professor.

Dates: 

Arrival: Monday, July 27, 2026, until 12 pm
Closing concert: Friday, July 31st, 2026, 6:30 pm
Departure: Saturday, August 1st, 2026, until 12 pm

Course Description:

The voice is the instrument most closely connected to the human body and therefore capable of transporting emotions unfiltered and most directly to the audience. Etymologically, there is a direct translation to  personare (latin for through sounding); in Hebrew there is even the same word for soul and throat.

For five days we will be working on throat skills which will help to make these connections hearable. Additionally to working on stylistic differences of the epochs, diction and interpretation impulses the fun of making music is of great importance as well!

Our master class is intended for all who are searching for new impulses in singing and interpreting – e.g. as a preparation for attending universities or for a check-up for (midterm) exams – we will work individually in three units each day and actually strengthen the instrument “voice”.

The interpretation of the repertoire will increase in authenticity by working out and improving individual qualities.

The masterclass will be accompanied by Prof. Christian von Gehren.

Repertoire:

Concert and opera arias, as well as art songs from the baroque era to contemporary music

Accommodation:

Students are hosted on a shared room basis in a beautiful villa on the bank of the Rhine river.

Meals:

A kitchen is available for cooking; groceries can be bought in a nearby supermarket. Group shopping is advised. A different team can do the cooking daily, which can be organize in situ.

Rooms:

Committed to the spirit of romanticism, all masterclasses offered by the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy unite everything under one roof: living, learning, eating and sleeping. That is why participants will be hosted on a shared room basis.

For further impression, please visit our venue site.

Audition information and registration:

In order to be accepted, you must meet one of the following criteria:

(a) be recommended by Mr. Klose, or
(b) submit an unedited video audition (YouTube link) for review.

In addition, you must complete and submit our application form and pay a €40,- application fee.

Registration Deadline: June 27, 2026

Tuition:

Course fee (incl. accommodation): €590,-