Melody and nature
Start Melody and Nature: Saturday 9 May
Public master class for advanced amateurs led by. Manuela Okhakovsky and Heleen Vegter. Registration is possible until Sunday 15 March.
Many Dutch people celebrate their holidays in la douce France. They seek the sun, want to enjoy the ambiance, French cuisine, landscape and unspoilt nature. In the French liedrepertoire - mélodie - you will find nature in abundance. You hear the sea murmur, rivers and streams gurgle, feel the rain and see the rainbow before you when the storm has subsided. There are owls calling in the treetops, nightingales singing, and peacocks and guinea fowls making their calls. The French mélodie is an inexhaustible source of poetry and music! Listen, for instance, to Elly Ameling's interpretation of liederen by Ravel, Debussy or Duparc.
Are you an advanced amateur singer* who performs regularly? In this master class, discover the French mélodie and immerse yourself in the role nature plays in it. When choosing your repertoire, preferably be inspired by French composers. Do you prefer singing German or English? Then you can, because nature is beautifully sung in those liederen too.
In one private and two public master classes, you will work with Manuela Ochakovski, Heleen Vegter or both on your chosen two liederen. After the last master class, the presentation will take place on Tuesday 19 May in the Small Hall. You will introduce your chosen liederen, briefly explain why they fit the theme and perform them with Heleen Vegter at the piano.
Sign up by no later than Sunday 15 March send an e-mail to educatie@ilfz.nl. In this, please include your name, phone number, voice type and which two liederen you would like to work on, stating:
Together, the liederen may last a maximum of 9 minutes.
We would appreciate it if you send a recent audio recording along.
You will be notified in the week of 30 March whether you have been placed. If the maximum number of participants has been reached and there is still room at another master class or the Open Stage, we will contact you.
€ 330 per person
€ 275 for young talent (< 30 years)
Maximum 6 participants.
You will receive an invoice for payment of the fees.
Before the start of the festival in May, you will receive one free ticket for the evening recital Echo of nature on Tuesday 19 May by Julian Prégardien and Bryan Benner and a passport to the public Masterclasses for professionals.
Closed master class
Public master classes
Presentation recital
Closed master class
ArtsHouse ldea
Markt 3, 3701 JZ Zeist
Public master classes
Tower Avenue Theatre
Torenlaan 38, 3701 VK Zeist
Presentation recital
Small Hall Evangelical Brethren Church
Zusterplein 20, 3703 CB Zeist
Manuela Okhakovsky / singing teacher
Manuela Ochakovski graduated cum laude from the Music Academy in Iași, Romania. Following her studies, she worked as an opera singer at the Timisoara State Opera. Concert tours took her to major concert halls in Italy, the United States, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. She collaborated on several radio and TV recordings at the invitation of Romania's leading symphony orchestras.
Besides her career as a performing musician, Ochakovsky is active as a singing teacher. Her singing studio Il Portamento has now gained an international reputation, attracting singers from Europe and even Canada. She coaches professionals and also teaches amateurs.
Heleen Vegter / piano
After her piano principal study with Frank van de Laar at ArtEZ Conservatoire, the lied continued to hold a special attraction for Heleen Vegter. She took master classes with Elly Ameling, Robert Holl and Julius Drake, among others. As a Britten-Pears Young Artist, she worked with Angelika Kirchschlager, Anne Sofie von Otter and Kristian Bezuidenhout, among others. She has been heard at international festivals and played at Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ and the Concertgebouw, among others.
Vegter is initiator and artistic director of Stichting Leading Lied, which aims to make classical lied accessible to a wider audience. Outside her well-filled concert schedule, she teaches piano in her private practice in Arnhem and is co-organiser and board member of the national degree exams of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA).