2006 Jungfrau Music Festival – Report
It was my pleasure to be invited to be the instructor for the 2006 Conducting Masterclass at the Jungfrau Music Festival in Switzerland. Named for Switzerland’s Jungfrau mountain, this event has a very short history, but already has achieved an extremely high status and as it becomes better known should become something representing a zenith in the wind conducting world.
Only in its fourth season, the Conducting Masterclass has featured an international list of instructors that includes Timothy Reynish from Greast Britain, Eugene Corporon from the USA, and Jan Cober from The Netherlands. The participants are all professional conductors with their own ensembles, so the level of experience is very high. This year, there were participants from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Latvia and England, who brought their own insights, making for a very rich experience.
The amount of podium time is very generous, as each day there is a full ensemble to conduct. These vary between professional freelance musicians assembled to perform chamber music to visiting ensembles such as the Baden-Wurttenburg Landesblasorchester, which was on tour with its conductor Isabel Ruf-Weber. WASBE Member Rolf Schumacher is the main organizer for this event, which runs with proverbial Swiss-timing. All aspects of conducting, such as baton and rehearsal technique, score study, analysis, interpretation and repertoire selection are covered in the week-long masterclass.
Other aspects of the Festival include professional and student ensembles from near and far, including ensembles from Israel and China. These ensemble play special concerts and/or participate in an internationally adjudicated contest, for which the Chief Adjudicator this year was WASBE President Bert Alders. The combined package represents a world forum for wind music from student ensembles to professional in a truly magnificent setting.
A discussion of this event could not pass without mention of its location. Interlaken, Switzerland, with an exquisite view of the Jungfrau mountain, is deservedly world-renowned as one of the most beautiful places one could possibly visit. It has become known as a mecca for “extreme sports,” and one can find canyon diving and paragliding in great profusion. Moreover, the hotel “Victoria Jungfrau,” which is a major sponsor and hosts all of the Festival events, is without a doubt one of the great hotels of the world. A more beautiful setting for the study of great music with outstanding performers and conductors is hard to imagine.
An added bonus this year was the meeting of the Swiss WASBE Section, which had its own excellent one-day seminar on the opening weekend. I was honoured to be invited to make a presentation at this event and fortunate indeed to have the recruit band of the Swiss Army as my demonstration group.
To my mind, this conducting masterclass possesses the artistic merits for which WASBE stands, and I hope that more of our members have the opportunity to experience it first-hand.
©2006 WASBE