Metropolis Master Classes 2011

The Metropolis Music Publishers are pleased to welcome several professors from different nationalities at the 2011 master classes.


They are all famous musicians and wonderful teachers. The 2011 Arosa Music Academy master classes will be taught by the professors from Germany, Estonia, Ukraine, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium.

On this page, we briefly present each of these professors (in alphabetical order by surname).

	Claudio Bohorquez - solo-cellist, chamber musician and teacher - is of Peruvian and Uruguayan descent and was born in Germany. His studies with Boris Pergamenschikow at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne led to successes at international competitions in Moscow and Paris at an early age. First prize at the Geneva International Music Competition launched his career as a soloist, since when he has appeared regularly with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He is equally in demand playing chamber music with eminent partners worldwide. He has been a guest professor at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”, Berlin, since 2003.
	The casalQuartet was established in 1996 by its present members, Daria Zappa, Rachel Späth, Markus Fleck and Andreas Fleck. During its formative years the ensemble received expert tuition from the Carmina (Zurich) and Alban Berg (Cologne) string quartets as well as from Walter Levin in Basel. More than one thousand public recitals have consolidated cQ's reputation worldwide while their music projects for younger listeners, and knack of discovering innovative ways of presenting traditional concerts, have become distinguishing features of their creative activities.
	In 1992 Christoph Hartmann was appointed solo oboist to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Before attaining this ultimate distinction, the young musician from Landberg am Lech in Germany had studied with Georg Fischer in Augsburg and Günther Passin at the Musikhochschule in Munich. He now leads a fulfilled life as a musician, playing with orchestras and chamber ensembles, teaching at the Herbert-von-Karajan Academy and giving masterclasses, alongside frequent appearances as a soloist in Europe, Asia and America. In 1999 he established the Landsberger Sommermusiken, a festival for chamber music out of which grew the Ensemble Berlin.
	Estonian born bassoon virtuoso, Martin Kuuskmann is a commanding force bent on redefining the bassoon as a top calibre solo instrument. His frequent concert engagements have included solo appearances with the New York Philharmonic and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestras to name just two. He has appeared as guest solo principal bassoonist with the Seoul Philharmonic and while in New York freelanced with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony. Kuuksmann lives in Seattle.
	Born in Charkow, Ukraine, Konstantin Lifshitz showed such early promise that at the age of five he was admitted to Moscow's prestigious Gnessin music school to study with Tatjana Zelikman. A recording of his performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations at his graduation concert in  1994, when he was aged 17, was later nominated for a Grammy. Further studies followed at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Since 2008 Lifshitz has taught at the Musikhochschule Luzern.
	The Florentine composer and conductor Massimiliano Matesic is conductor of the Youth Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Conservatorium as well as of the Nota Bene Symphony Orchestra and teaches conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg I.Br. He began composing at an early age and entered the Conservatorium in Florence aged 15, studying composition with G.G.Luporini and subsequently with S. Sciarrino. Further studies followed at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg I. Br. He subsequently pursued a successful career as a conductor. He now resides in Kaiserstuhl/AG. Recent commissions of note have been for the Boswil Summer Festival and music for a television production Paganini (RSI).
	Matthias Müller is Professor at the Zurich University of Arts. He is active internationally as interpreter, composer and teacher, as well being Artistic Director of various institutions. He has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Tschaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. Matthias Müller gives regular masterclasses worldwide and has composed over 20 pieces for clarinet.. He lives with his wife, the flautist Magda Schwerzmann, and his three children in Forch near Zurich.
	Christiane Oelze has established a fine reputation as a singer, whether on the international opera stage or on the concert platform. In the course of her career she has appeared with many eminent conductors and with the world's leading orchestras. On the opera stage Christiane Oelze is particularly well known for her Mozart roles, but over the years has built an extensive and varied Lied repertoire. One of her recent recordings is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Järvi. From 2003 until 2008 she was Professor of singing at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf.
	Eric Schneider studied piano and mathematics, graduating from the Music Academy in Cologne at the age of 22. After winning first prize in various competitions he decided to take an advanced course in Lied accompaniment taught by Hartmut Höll. Artists such as Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Paul Badura-Skoda and Alfred Brendel along with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau significantly influenced his artistic development. For many years now he has enjoyed an intense artistic collaboration with the eminent singers Christine Schäfer and Matthias Goerne. Eric Schneider has taught Lied repertoire at the UdK Berlin since 2009.
	Magda Schwerzmann has been a lecturer at the Hochschule Luzern since 2005. She is also a guest teacher at the Hochschule der Künste Zurich and at the Swiss Academy for Musical Education (SAMP). Her activities include masterclasses at institutions worldwide, including the Manhatten School of Music and the Boston and St. Petersburg Conservatories as well as solo appearances with ensembles such as the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. As a performer of chamber music Magda Schwerzmann has collaborated with Michael Sanderling, Noemi Nadelmann and many others in Europe, America and Russia.
	Ingolf Turban is Professor at the Hochschule for Music and Dramatic Art, Munich. He has appeared as a soloist in the world's greatest concert halls, from the Philharmonie in Berlin to the Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Working with eminent conductors like Sergiu Celibidache, Charles Dutoit and Zubin Mehta, to name just a few, he commands an impressive repertoire including many rarely performed works. His interpretations of works that he has premiered are considered to be definitive. He has been Artistic Director of the summer festival “Holzhauser Musiktage” near  Starnburg Germany since 2007. Ingolf Turban lives with his family in Munich.
	Eddy Vanoosthuyse is professor of clarinet at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Ghent and principal clarinet in the Flemish Radio Orchestra. He is an  internationally acclaimed soloist and teacher, performing and giving  masterclasses in Europe, America and Asia. He particularly likes to appear together in formation with string quartet. In 2005 he was invited by Indiana University, Bloomington to teach the class of Eli Eban while the latter was on sabbatical. In 2002 he was awarded the Honor al Merito by the government of Lima, Peru, in recognition of his high artistic achievements and in 2007 he received a decoration from the Chinese National Clarinet Association.