During the 2014-2015 season Achim Holub will give a series of conducting masterclasses with orchestra in London.
Since 2007, more than 100 active participants from five continents and over 40 nations have participated in Achim Holub´s conducting courses, some of them several times.
Among them were students from many of the world’s most prestigious music colleges, such as the Royal Academy and the Royal
College of Music London, Guildhall School of Music & Drama London, the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland Glasgow, Oxford and Cambridge University, New England Conservatory Boston, University of California Los
Angeles, Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Berlin University of the Arts and all leading German
music colleges.
The tuition focus will be on conducting technique and performance practice, personal coaching sessions will be tailored to
the participants’ individual requirements.
Additionally, Achim Holub will share his experience of 20 years of
collaboration with world class musicians and recording companies
like the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft in talks about career
planning, orchestra management and record producing.
Masterclass & Competition October-November 2014
Encouraged by the enormous success of the January and April courses, with
a superb orchestra and many extraordinary conductors from five continents, Achim will give his next masterclass in London from 30 October till
2 November 2014.
The course will coincide with the launch of Achim Holub’s Beethoven project with the London Classical Soloists which will include recordings and
performances of the symphonies in London and all over Europe during the
next years.
All participants will conduct the London Classical Soloists, a world-class
orchestra which consists of a selection of the best young professional players
in London, at the final concert.
There will also be a competition and the winner will be invited to conduct
the London Classical Soloists at a concert at Cadogan Hall in autumn 2015.
Additionally, there will be talks on career management and the future development of the classical music business.
General Information
Arrival: Wednesday 29 October or Thursday 30 October 2014 early morning
Course starts: Thursday 30 October
Course ends: Sunday 2 November
Departure: Sunday 2 November late evening or Monday 3 November
Final concert and competition: Saturday 1 November, 7.30pm
Venue: the course will take place in Central West London
Number of participants: max. 12
Podium time with orchestra: 40 minutes + concert performance
Sessions: additionally to piano and orchestra sessions, each single participant will receive a 60-minute one-to-one personal coaching session
Achim Holub’s assistant: Christof Harr [www.christof-harr.de]
Repertoire
Beethoven: Symphonies No. 7 A major, Op. 92 and No. 8 F major, Op. 93
[Editions: Bärenreiter].
All participants will conduct at the final concert.
Video
A personalised multi-angle video of your performance including a professional sound recording will be available shortly after the final concert.
Fees
Registration fee, to secure your place: £150
Fee: £690 (£540 course fee + £150 registration fee)
Application deadline: Friday 24 October 2014, 5pm
Since places are limited, please apply as early as possible.
Main focus
Conducting technique and communication of interpretational concepts.
Findings of the historically informed performance practice movement.
Efficient preparation of parts and rehearsals.
Future-oriented career management and music business survival strategies.
Individual coaching.
Target group: conducting students and professionals; chorus masters; instrumentalists and music pedagogues who would like to improve their skills
in ensemble leadership.
Application
To apply, use the PDF Application Form or send an email to [email protected] with name, address, nationality, phone & mobile
numbers and a short CV.
To secure your participation, please make sure to pay the registration fee of
£150 as soon as possible (transfer details will be sent to you after the review
of your application).
Participants’ Feedback
It was an experience that made me grow and from which I could learn many
things. The London Classical Soloists are an exceptional orchestra and I felt
perfectly at ease with them.
Davide Bontempo, Milano
Thank you very much for a wonderful course! I enjoyed the excellent teachings of Achim and Christof and the high level of the orchestra. It was a
pleasure!
Roit Feldenkreis, Tel Aviv
The masterclass and competition were an ideal setting for musical freedom
and growth. During the workshop, Maestro Holub discussed aspects of classical interpretation, which I found immensely thought-provoking and which
have influenced my approach to studying classical scores. The workshop staff
are supportive and want each conductor to achieve positive growth. I look
forward to my continued contact with the staff as I continue to grow as a
conductor.
Karin Hendrickson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
First of all, I want to thank Achim and Christof for the very good masterclass
I was lucky to attend! It was an extraordinary experience and I appreciate
your very useful and valuable advice. But I particularly enjoyed working with
the London Classical Soloists, who are a really good team.
Olivier Murith, Villars-sur-Glâne
I felt that I've learned a lot and, even though I realise how difficult it is to
start a career in this field, my experience in London reinforced my will not to
give up on that idea. The feeling of receiving from the orchestra so much
love and enthusiasm for music is absolutely one of the best experiences one
can have in life. I also very much appreciated the fantastic teaching, the good
organisation, how extremely fair all the choices have been, and how much I
felt that both Achim and Christof really gave each one personal attention
besides a collaboration feeling with the whole class and orchestra.
Camilla Rossetti, Paris
Achim, thank you and Christof for the course and the time spent to share
what you know with us. It was eye-opening.
Pamela Soria, Ciudad de México
I would like to thank you again for your guidance during my time in London.
Some "take-aways" that I have already put into practice include:
-How to stand to exhibit stability and confidence. A simple enough concept,
yet one that had never been demonstrated or spelled out to me. Sometimes
it takes just the right teacher to get a point across to a student, and that was
you for me.
-The continued reminder that less is more, gesturally speaking. Especially
with the London Classical Soloists, it was amazing to watch you lead them
with so few, and yet so effective, gestures.
Dan Whisler, Louisville, Kentucky
Thanks a lot Achim and Christof for giving me this chance, I got so many
things to learn during these days, it was not just learning about conducting.
Through the work we did, you made me feel and understand more the deep
meaning about music and the real meaning about being an orchestra conductor. Thanks also to the musicians in the orchestra, they are so great.
When I was on stage with them I just felt we all were like waves in the ocean
of music, we had fused together and moved together, I really enjoyed this
kind of feeling with them.
Jianning Zhu, Genève
Achim Holub
[…] was fortunate to be directed by Achim Holub, a young Austrian musician,
who, certainly on this showing, deserves encouragement and support from
the highest level. [...] As an interpretation, Holub’s account [of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9] was totally convincing, and of no little musical distinction. […]
This young man could go far.
Robert Matthew-Walker, Classical Source
[…] Achim Holub, the superb conductor, had complete control over his forces
without being over demonstrative. This was particularly noticeable in the last
work, the Jupiter Symphony, where he conducted without a score and managed to convey the meaning of each of the four movements skilfully.
John Packwood, Bristol Evening Post
Achim Holub is widely regarded as one of the most successful Austrian conductors of the younger generation. Audiences and the press are thrilled by
his dynamic and innovative interpretations and colleagues and orchestra
managers alike praise his meticulous preparation and professional conducting technique.
Since 2010 he is principal conductor of the London Classical Soloists, an
orchestra which brings together the best young musicians in the United
Kingdom.
During the last four years he has also been collaborating with the Orpheus
Sinfonia and Firebird, two orchestra projects under the patronage of Dame
Judi Dench, performing with them at the most important venues in London
and on a tour to Austria.
Furthermore, Achim is artistic director of Kammerphilharmonie Graz, one of
Central Europe’s leading chamber orchestras, with which he has been giving
many concerts in several parts of Austria during the last ten years.
Before that he was assistant conductor with the Berlin Philharmonic, the
NDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic and worked together with Sir John Eliot Gardiner at concerts
and recordings for Deutsche Grammophon for many years.
For twenty years now, Achim has been conducting concerts with some of the
most prominent orchestras in Europe, such as the English Baroque Soloists,
the Grazer Symphonisches Orchester, the National Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Netherlands Radio
Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Slovene Philharmonic Ljubljana and the Thüringen Philharmonie on a tour through Eastern
Germany.
He recorded together with Sir John Eliot Gardiner Percy Grainger’s “The
Warriors“ for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft and collaborated several times with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF.
Born into a creative, cosmopolitan family, he received his first music tuition
at the age of six and decided shortly afterwards to become a professional
musician.
He then studied conducting with Milan Horvat in Graz, Michael Gielen in
Salzburg und Ferdinand Leitner in Siena. Subsequently, he participated in
one of the world’s most prestigious conducting courses, the Kirill Kondrashin NOS Conductors’ Masterclass in Hilversum, and Sir Georg Solti
invited him to a study visit at the Salzburg Festival.
Achim frequently presents educational events and is an experienced pianist,
performing as accompanist at chamber music concerts and Lieder recitals.