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Music Notes

SUMMER SCHOOL FOR CLASSICAL SINGERS 2024

Welcome to the third in the sries of Summer schools held by Vocal Masterclass Stockholm, this year between 5-11 August 2024, in the heart of beautiful Stockholm.

Vocal Masterclass Stockholm is a non-profit organisation passionate about the future of singing and young singers. In this Summer school we take some of the finest artists that Sweden and Europe has to offer with the aim of not only giving the participants the tools to better their technique and improve as singers, musicians and performers, but also to break down the barriers between artist/performer and the student to create lasting Impressions and partnerships. 

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SUCCESS!

Another Summer course is finished. Happy teachers and students that showed real progress. What more could one ask for?

To achieve real results in such a short space of time is tricky but what is so pleasing is to see the the bravery of intent, the imagination on display and the germination of ideas, both technical and interpretational that bore fruit in the final concert. 

Jennifer Larmore is a genius. Generous but exacting, kind yet direct and her masterclasses were a joy to witness and a font of valuable info for both student and teacher alike.

Once again, my enormous thanks go to my team, Irene Kudela, Camilla Tilling, Matti Hirvonen and Maria Lindberg Kransmo. You are fabulous! Also a huge thank you to Maja Verner Carlsson at Birkagårdens Folkhögskola and to all the sponsors involved, without whose help this would be impossible.

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SUMMER SCHOOL
2024

PEDAGOGUES

Matti Hirvonen - Vocal coach/piano

Irene Kudela - Vocal coach/piano

Camilla Tilling - Soprano

Jeremy Carpenter - Baritone


Special Guest pedagogue

Jennifer Larmore - Mezzo soprano

Collaborative pianist

Revaz Abramia


PARTICIPANTS

Karolina Åsberg - Mezzo soprano

Anna Górska - Mezzo soprano

Johan Ulfsparre - Counter tenor

Rebecca Sier - Mezzo soprano

Julia Kumlin - Soprano

Astrid Montén - Soprano

Anna Streiffert - Mezzo soprano

Hitomi Okhi - Soprano

Agnes Thörn - Soprano

THE TEAM

JENNIFER LARMORE

International Mezzo-soprano
Guest Teacher - 2 day masterclass.

Jennifer Larmore is one of the most distinguished mezzo-sopranos of our time. She has a wide ranging repertoire, excelling in the coloratura roles of Baroque and bel canto, in addition to music from the Romantic and Contemporary periods.
Current and future engagements include Herodias in Salome at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Countess in The Queen of Spades and Madelon in Andrea Chénier at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Recent performances include Marcellina in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées of Paris and for her role debut in concert with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, her role debut as Herodias in Salome at the Atlanta Opera, the title role in a new production of La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and Fidalma in Il matrimonio segreto at Oper Köln, the title role of La belle Hélène at the Hamburg State Opera and Die Dame in Cardillac at the Maggio Musicale in Florence.
In recent years Ms Larmore has evolved into an exciting singing actress, adding roles such as Countess Geschwitz in Lulu(Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Rome Opera House), Kostelnička in Jenufa (Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Tokyo), Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth (Geneva, Bologna), Eboli in Don Carlos (Caramoor Festival), Mère Marie in The Dialogues of the Carmelites(Caramoor Festival), the title role of La belle Hélène (Hamburg State Opera), Marie in Wozzeck(Geneva) and Anna 1 in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins (Atlanta).
Among her many career highlights are her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in 1995, where she later sang the title roles of Giulio Cesare, La Cenerentolaand L’italiana in Algeri; Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Gertrude in Hamlet by Thomas and the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy. Other engagements have led her to virtually every major opera house in the world, including La Scala, Paris Opera, Berlin Deutsche Oper, Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden.
Originally from Atlanta, Ms Larmore studied with Dr. Robert McIver at the Westminster Choir College of Princeton, New Jersey and then privately with John Bullock and Regina Resnik. She made her professional debut in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito in 1986 at the Opéra de Nice. During the same period, she sang her first Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Strasbourg. Rosina quickly became her signature role, having performed it more than six hundred times.
She has sung with all the major international orchestras and under the baton of many of the most prestigious conductors such as Muti, López-Cobos, Perez, Bernstein, Runnicles, Sinopoli, Masur, von Dohnányi, Jacobs, Mackerras, Spinosi, Guidarini, Kalmar, Rudel, Barenboim, Queler, Bonynge, Maazel, Osawa and Hengelbrock.
Since the beginning of her career, Jennifer Larmore has recorded widely for the Teldec, RCA, Harmonia Mundi, Deutsch Grammophon, Arabesque, Opera Rara, Bayer, Naive, Chandos, VAI and Cedille labels in over one hundred CDs to date. In addition to her many activities, travels, performances and causes, “author” Jennifer Larmore has released the book “Una Voce” which addresses issues pertaining to the opera singer’s life.
In collaboration with double bass player Davide Vittone, Jennifer Larmore has created an ensemble called Jennifer Larmore and OpusFive. The three programs they offer are entertaining and varied with Songs and Arias, Cabaret/Operetta, Movies and Broadway which feature string quintet and voice. They have given concerts in Seville, Pamplona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Mallorca, Menorca, Venice, Aix en Provence, Amiens, Olten, Paris, Mersin and Dublin

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CAMILLA TILLING

Opera Singer - Voice Teacher

With her ​“beguiling tone and unfailing musicality” (Gramophone, 2020), Camilla Tilling has been performing on the world’s leading opera, concert and recital stages for over two decades while simultaneously building an impressive discography. Her most recent releases include Jugendstil songs 1898 – 1916, a ​“beautifully paced album of Romantic and Expressionist songs” (BBC Music Magazine, 2020), recorded with long-time pianist Paul Rivinius; Die Schöpfung with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Bernard Haitink and an acclaimed portrait of Gluck & Mozart Arias with Musica Saeculorum and Philipp von Steinaecker, which sit alongside her three earlier recital discs on the BIS label featuring Schubert, Strauss and Nordic Songs.

In the 2021/22 season Camilla joins Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Sir Simon Rattle for Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the Oslo Philharmonic under chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä for Mozart’s Mass in C minor and, after their successful collaboration at Het Concertgebouw last season, Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No.4. In addition to Beethoven, Symphony No.9 with Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Tilling joins Marc Soustrot and Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla for a programme of Mahler and Strauss and returns to Teatro Real, Madrid as Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue in a new staging by Alex Ollé, conducted by Juanjo Mena. At the Royal Swedish Opera, she will debut as Puccini’s Suor Angelica in their production of Il Trittico.

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MATTI HIRVONEN

Pianist - Nordic and German Romance

Since his career began at the invitation of Elisabeth Söderström Matti has, since then, performed extensively with singers such as Nina Stemme, Hillevi Martinpelto, Miah Persson, Iréne Theorin, Anna Larsson, Angelika Kirschschlager, Katarina Karnéus, Ida Falk Winland, Ann Hallenberg, Randi Stene, Håkan Hagegård, Peter Mattei, Wolfgang Holzmair, Andreas Schmidt and Bo Skovhus, among many others.


An outstandingly gifted pianist and accompanist, his knowledge of all forms of chamber music is hard to surpass. His gentle and patient approach to both teaching and performing makes him a very effective colleague.

https://www.mattihirvonen.com/

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IRÈNE KUDELA

Pianist - Opera, Romance and  Vocal Coach

Fluent in seven languages this outstanding musician and vocal coach has assisted conducters such as Pierre Boulez, Guennadi Rozhdestvensky, Jiri Belohlavek, Myung Whung Chung and Charles Mackerras. and has coached singers the likes of Rolando Villazon, Natalie Dessay, Malin Byström, Kerstin Avemo, Roberto Alagna, Renee Fleming, Barbara Hendricks, Ruggero Raimondi and Leonie Rysanek. 

She is an experienced Masterclasses taker both for singers and pianists, notably at the Académie de l’Opéra de Paris, the National Opera Studio from London, the Bolshoi, Moscow, the Fondation Royaumont, and atbthe opera houses of Göteborg, Bonn, and Stockholm.

Her combination of experience, empathy and vast knowledge makes Irène an invaluable resource for singers at all stages of their career.

https://www.irene-kudela.com/

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JEREMY CARPENTER

Founder and Artistic Advisor, Opera Singer - Voice Teacher

Born in the UK Jeremy moved to Sweden in 2003. Since then he has guested at opera houses such as Covent Garden, Opera de Paris, Geneva Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Since 2018 he has been part of the ensemble at The Royal Opera in Stockholm.

Since his work in the Education Department at Glyndebourne he has been passionate about vocal pedagogy and created this masterclass series in 2017 primarily to inspire the next generation of singers and lovers of song and opera.

https://www.jeremyrcarpenter.com/

2024 Summer School for Classical Singers : What We Do
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ABOUT THE COURSE

A small group of Internationally renowned artists will be on hand to to guide the 10 participants through the 7 day long intensive course consisting of masterclasses and individual coaching studying French, German, English, Russian, Czech and Scandinavian songs, the Baroque, Classical and Bel Canto opera repertoire as well as the chance to perform in a final consert all within the beautiful, exciting and vibrant city of Stockholm.

  • The course is aimed at those who are undergoing of have completed a Graduate level musical education or higher.

  • Several hours of coaching time both in masterclass format and individual coaching in song technique and the dramatic interpretation of both Art song and Opera.

  • Daily masterclasses with access to 4 pedagogues.

  • Language experts are on hand in Russian, French, German, English, Czech and Swedish.

  • 2 day masterclass with guest professor, internationally renowned mezzo and singing teacher Jennifer Larmore.

  • Evening discussion panels with special guest speakers.

  • A final concert at the end of the week in the Rikssal at the Royal Palace, Stockholm giving the student the chance to perform with both Matti Hirvonen and Irene Kudela seated at the piano.

  • Lunch provided.

  • All in the centre of one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities of Europe.

THE COST OF THE COURSE IS 7 500 SEK AND COULD FALL FURTHER.

ACCOMODATION IS NOT PROVIDED.

2024 Summer School for Classical Singers : Who We Are

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO

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This week is made possible by the help of these groups and individuals. We are extremely grateful for their invaluable help

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