top of page
Music Notes

SUMMER SCHOOL FOR CLASSICAL SINGERS 2025

Welcome to the fourth in the series of Summer schools held by Vocal Masterclass Stockholm, this year between 4-10 August 2025, 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 and interpreters, but also to help balance the Holy Trinity of language, drama and musicianship.

My project.png
3C6F0954-1A95-4D2A-961A-9FA7595341F6.jpeg

SUMMER SCHOOL
2025

PEDAGOGUES

Matti Hirvonen - Vocal coach/piano

Irene Kudela - Vocal coach/piano

Jeremy Carpenter - Baritone

 

SPECIAL GUEST PEDAGOGUES

Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet - Soprano

Luise Breyer Aiton - Soprano and Voice Release Massage Specialist

THE TEAM

IMG_1761.jpg

JEANNE-MICHELE CHARBONNET

Internationally renowned Dramatic soprano
Guest Teacher.

Dramatic soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet has established herself as a leading force in the German and contemporary repertoires. Having begun her singing Italian and ‘spinto’ Russian roles, she has naturally progressed into the more dramatic German soprano – and more recently ‘Zwischenfach’ – repertoire. Her intense stage presence has been widely praised by critics, with the New York Times proclaiming her a ‘spine-chillingly powerful’ performer. Recent performances include the title role of Ariane et Barbe-bleue for Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg. Future engagements include Herodias for the Deutsche Oper Berlin in a new production conducted by Maestro Runnicles, and she will repeat the role for the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg.

Recent highlights include the 2012 release as the title role in Strauss’ Elektra with the London Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Valery Gergiev; the title role of Ariane et Barbe-bleue in Barcelona and Dijon; Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle for Nantes, Angers, and Paris; Leonore in Fidelio at the Teatro San Carlo; Katerina Izmailova in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for the Florence May Festival and Teatro Municipal Santiago; Goneril in King Lear for Frankfurt, Elektra for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Edinburgh International Festival, and LSO under Maestro Valery Gergiev; and Cassandre in Les Troyens for Opéra National de Paris.

In Europe, Charbonnet has appeared at major opera houses including the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real, Madrid; Oper Frankfurt; Opéra National de Bordeaux; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Teatro Comunale di Firenze; Teatro La Fenice; and Bregenz Festival. Her major roles include Ortrud in Lohengrin, which she has sung for both Frankfurt and Dallas Opera, Kundry in Parsifal, Venus in Tannhäuser for Geneva and Toulouse, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, both for the Opéra National du Rhin. Her portrayal of Isolde was described in Opera magazine as ‘every inch the passionate Irish princess, at first a bundle of fury, then wholly possessed by the love potion. Her soprano smouldered hotly below, blazed thrillingly on high.’

Charbonnet’s concert repertoire includes Schoenberg’s Erwartung with Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Cologne, and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with Pierre Boulez at the BBC Proms. Engagements in the 2013-14 season included role debuts as Kostelnička in Jenůfa for La Monnaie, Brussels, and the Mother in Il Prigioniero in Barcelona, as well as Erwartung with Susanna Mälkki in Amsterdam. Looking further ahead, Charbonnet will add roles to her repertoire including Klytemnestra in Elektra, and Amneris in Aida.

https://piperartists.com/portfolio/jeanne-michele-charbonnet/

d5505335-ca88-4973-a56d-096e8b420341.jpg

LUISE BREYER AITON

Opera Singer, Voice Teacher, General Director of Indemini Festival and Founder of VoiceRelease Massage

THE SINGER

British/German soprano, Luise Breyer-Aiton has shared her heartfelt passion for performing in regular appearances in opera, oratorio and lied across Europe. In the U.S. the soprano performed the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the MSU Concert Stage, New York. No stranger to contemporary music, Luise debuted the role of Junge Robbe in the world premiere of Susanne Stelzenbach’s contemporary opera, Die UnterwasserOper. Ms. Breyer-Aiton recently made her debut at the Aegean Festival in Greece as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Prior engagements include the soprano singing the role of Rosalinde in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy. She also sang the title roles of Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Berlin Opera Collaborative, and of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the VIVAT Festival, Dorset. At the Hauptstadt Oper, Berlin. Ms. Breyer-Aiton was heard as the Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

In past seasons, Ms. Breyer-Aiton appeared at the Dorset Opera Festival in Verdi’s  La Traviata and Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She was a young artist at Grange Park Opera, Surrey, UK, where she covered the role of Ellen Orford, in Britten’s Peter Grimes

https://piperartists.com/portfolio/luise-breyer-aiton/

THE VOICE RELEASE THERAPIST

VoiceRelease Massage (VRM) & bodyvoice resonance coaching:

Being intriguingly interested in the link and interrelation of the voice and body, I put my experience in singing and massage therapy into developing a unique massage treatment for singers called the VoiceRelease Massage or VRM is pure relaxation for your voice and body and it boosts your musical activities and daily life.

My interest in massaging/ body work / body  & mental coaching keeps me researching and refining on how I can use massage/ hypnosis / body guidance most effectively to benefit you as a singer and also create a tool with the bodyvoice resonance to aid you in detecting quickly where the tensions lie while singing- actively while performing, in your rehearsal period, coaching / lessons and in your daily life. With VRM, HVM, bodyvoice resonance I combine this interest with my professional experience and knowledge as a singer and musician.

I began a music education as a trumpeter before following my passion for classical singing as a  lyric mezzo before changing Fach to a lyric-dramatic soprano. I used and use massage to keep my own voice and body in balance, or to help me to recover quickly after a stressful schedule, cold or illness.

However, it is not easy to find a massage therapist who understands a singers need and who can safely massage our throat and larynx. So, I trained as a massage therapist, and studied and broadened my knowledge in various techniques, i.e. the voice massage used in Scandinavia as well as the manual vocal therapy.

Luise has undertaken intensive massage therapy training in Germany and Finland. This provided her with training in Remedial, Sports and Relaxation massage, voice massage and manual vocal therapy,  Deep Tissue,  Myo - Fascia Release and CTM as well as hypnosis (practitioner of the WHO) and created also the HypnoVoice Massage (HVM), which allows you to relax on a very deep level resolving blockages, trauma, anxiety issues and allowing you to relax on a deeper level.

 

Luise has studied Voice at Cardiff University and undertook further vocal training in London and Salzburg with Linda Esther Gray, Barbara Bonney and Anne Marie Owens and is now with Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet. Luise is the founder and General Artistic Director of Indemini Festival.

As an active singer herself, Luise‘s interest in the combination of singing and massaging, let her to specialised in the field of voice massage and Luise continues to train and extend her knowledge. Luise's interest in massage for singers keeps her continually researching how to use massage to benefit the performances of a singer.

Most importantly whatever I do in life: I love being a singer and masseur for singers & try always to keep smiling & enjoy life. 

 

https://www.voicereleasemassage.com/

matti_hirvonen.jpg

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/

Irene piano.jpg

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/

jeremy_MB-6533_edited.jpg

JEREMY CARPENTER

Founder of VMS, Artistic Advisor, Opera Singer and 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
Empty Stage

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  and individual sessions 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 9 000 SEK .

ACCOMODATION IS NOT PROVIDED.

2024 Summer School for Classical Singers : Who We Are

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO

birka2_klassisk_edited.jpg
jc_logo_neg_box.png
66592E65-1CCC-4D1C-A4ED-4FF46A7DD5A0.jpe
94713CCF-82F2-4C3F-B82E-9A09BB9E8F6C.jpe
77ABD56A-B315-4E94-A53D-AB50061B9F83.jpe
C7B9EFA2-0905-47D2-B142-94FA3B3CBAF4.jpe
F688B8E3-CCD0-4A29-AAB1-3EEC5EDFE7E3.jpeg
263EFA4A-4158-42D3-B202-D5C9E958D8DF.jpeg
3BB920BC-C156-42FA-9B2A-79C199E43308.jpeg
E1416B03-7384-4CB2-B661-AD980E0E463A_edited.jpg

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

bottom of page