Melody and nature - 2
Friday 15 May / 13.30 - 16.30 hours
Public masterclass for amateurs by Manuela Okhakovsky, singing teacher and Heleen Vegter, piano
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!
During the public master class on Friday 15 May, participants will work with vocal teacher Manuela Ochakovski and pianist Heleen Vegter on French liederen in which nature plays a leading role. On Tuesday 19 May, they will perform during the presentation recital took up the challenge to perform in front of an audience what they have learned.
Tower Avenue Theatre
Torenlaan 38, 3701 VK 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).