Musikfest Bremen Atelier
Musikfest Bremen Atelier – since 2021, the festival has been promoting young talent through these international summer academies. World-renowned artists with a connection to Musikfest work with hand-picked young musicians from all over the world on specially selected repertoires in week-long Ateliers
supported by NORDMETALL
Atelier I:
»Katharinas Hofmusik – In the Name of the Empress«
The Atelier »Katharinas Hofmusik« (Catherine’s Court Music) is led by a team of tutors headed by Alfredo Bernardini and Alessandro Quarta. In Jever, they continue their exploration of vocal music from previous years. Catherine the Great did her utmost to promote the arts in St. Petersburg in order to elevate her relatively new residence to the status of a cultural centre of European standing. She invited renowned Italian composers such as Baldassare Galuppi, Vincenzo Manfredini, Niccolò Piccini and Domenico Cimarosa to her court. These composers introduced St. Petersburg to their own works and those of others, ensuring that Italian operas were performed there on a par with those in Venice, Naples, London, Stockholm or Dresden.
Tutors: Alessandro Quarta (Vocals, Continuo), Veronika Skuplik (Violin), Catherine Jones (Violoncello), Alfredo Bernardini (Oboe and artistic direction)
Atelier II:
»Wege zu Bach – The Motets«
The Franco-Belgian bass and conductor Lionel Meunier heads the Atelier »Wege zu Bach« in Ganderkesee. While last year's focus was on the influences that Bach experienced through his own Thuringian church music dynasty, this year's spotlight is on the Thomaskantor himself. Compared to his approximately 200 surviving cantatas, the motets constitute only a small proportion of his sacred works. However, for Bach, they were lucrative commissions, composed weddings, memorial services, obsequies or funerals. In these pieces, he paid particular attention to the expressive power of the word set to music, making use of a variety of timbres, textures and effects. In doing so, he once again demonstrated his ability to perfect a religious genre handed down by his ancestors.
Tutors: Marcin Szelest (Organ), Lionel Meunier (Vocals and artistic direction)
