Kronberg Academy

The Kronberg Academy is an academy of chamber music based in Kronberg, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1993[1] by Raimund Trenkler, who has served since then as its chairman and artistic director.[2] The academy's initial focus was on the cello and supporting young cellists, but it now trains and sponsors gifted young players of the violin, viola, and cello, and organizes a diverse range of musical projects and concerts, including an international festival of strings.[1] It was granted charitable status (German: gemeinnützige Stiftung) in 2004.[3]

Academy office

Study programmes

The Kronberg Academy Foundation offers study programmes that are unique within Europe.[4] These include a Bachelor and Master programme for outstanding young musicians who have the potential to build international careers as soloists.[5] The course is designed for a maximum of 25 individuals, lasts a total of three years and is offered in collaboration with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.[6] The Kronberg Academy Professional Studies programme builds on this, and is a two-year course focussing on musical concert practice. The Kronberg Academy Precollege programme is intended for instrumentalists who, at 16 or 17 years of age, are too young to apply for the Kronberg Academy Bachelor programme. Since autumn 2018, the Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Pianists has offered a new chamber music programme to top class young pianists who wish to focus on chamber music.[7]

Professors

Professors for the Kronberg Academy study programmes are Ana Chumachenco, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Mihaela Martin, Nobuko Imai, Tabea Zimmermann, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and Frans Helmerson.[8] Martin Helmchen also works with the students as a tutor for "Duo Performance". Other internationally renowned artists, such as Gidon Kremer,[9] Gary Hoffman, Mauricio Fuks, Yuri Bashmet, András Schiff, Antoine Tamestit and Christoph Eschenbach, regularly teach the students in internal masterclasses.[10] The Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Pianists is led by András Schiff; additional tutors are Kirill Gerstein, Ferenc Rados, Dénes Várjon and Rita Wagner.

From 2005 to 2012, the Director of Study Programmes was Stephen Potts. Friedemann Eichhorn has been Director of Kronberg Academy's study programmes since 2012 and is Co-Artistic Director with Raimund Trenkler.

Artistic council

Kronberg Academy receives active support from many well-known artists. The members of the Artistic Council are Marta Casals Istomin, Yuri Bashmet, Christoph Eschenbach, Gidon Kremer and Sir András Schiff.[11] Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich was also a member of the Artistic Council until his death in 2007. He declared Kronberg to be the "World capital of the cello" as early as 1997, and founded the Rostropovich Cello Foundation in Kronberg to support young cellists.[12]

Concert hall

A new concert hall for the institution, the Casals Forum, was opened in September 2022, with a main hall, a smaller hall and study facilities.

Projects

Numerous renowned international events organised by Kronberg Academy, all designed to inspire, train and shape young musicians, supplement and support the funding activities and regularly make Kronberg a meeting place for artists from across the globe:[13]

  • Kronberg Academy Festival (every two years since 1993, titled "Cello Festival Kronberg" until 2013)[14][15][16]
  • Cello Masterclasses & Concerts (every two years since 1994)[17][18]
  • Violin Masterclasses & Concerts (every two years since 2009)[19][20]
  • Viola-Fest (1989 and 2003)
  • Kronberg Academy in Seoul/South Korea (2004, 2006 and 2008)
  • Chamber music project "Chamber Music Connects the World" (every two years since 2000)
  • International Pablo Casals Cello Competition (2000 and 2004)
  • Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, Berlin, organised together with Berlin University of the Arts (every four years since 2002)
  • Projects for children and teens: "Classic for Kids", "Mit Musik – Miteinander", youth concerts

World-renowned artists have established foundations based in Kronberg:[12]

  • Rostropovich Cello Foundation
  • Gidon Kremer Stiftung[21]
  • Yuri Bashmet Viola Foundation

Kronberg Academy also offers violin, viola and cello tuition for children and teenagers through the Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory. The conservatory is one of three representatives of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in the state of Hesse.[22]

Many of Kronberg's residents – who make up most of the 1320 or so members (As of October 2018) of the Friends of Kronberg Academy – act as hosts for the numerous young string players from around the world who come to Kronberg for its workshops, concerts and festivals.

References
  1. "Kronberg Academy feiert Richtfest ihres Kammermusiksaals". Süddeutsche.de (in German). dpa. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  2. "Kronberg Academy cancels all major events until the end of the year". The Strad. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  3. "Die Kronberg Academy Stiftung". CULTURall (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. "Kronberg Academy: Education". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  5. "Study "Kronberg Academy" in Germany – College of Music and Dramatic Art, Frankfurt am Main". www.daad.de. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  6. "Degree Programs A–Z". www.hfmdk-frankfurt.info. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  7. "Kronberg Academy: Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Pianists". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  8. "Kronberg Academy: Faculty". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  9. Wildhagen, Christian (25 February 2022). "Gidon Kremer wird 75 und hält den Schlüssel zur Musik in der Hand". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  10. "Kronberg Academy: Internal Masterclasses". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  11. "Kronberg Academy: Kronberg Academy Foundation / Artistic Council". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  12. "Kronberg Academy: Kronberg Academy Foundation/ Trust foundations". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  13. "Kronberg Academy: Events". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  14. "Konzertsaal – Eröffnungskonzert – Kronberg Academy Festival 2021". hr2.de (in German). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  15. "Festival zu Frauen in der Musik". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  16. "Gipfeltreffen der Streicher". Kronberg Academy Festival (in German). 13 September 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  17. "Kronberg Academy announces programme of cello masterclasses and concerts". Rhinegold. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  18. "Meisterkurse – Kronberg Academy". Deutsche Bank Stiftung (in German). 26 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  19. "Kronberg Academy announces prizewinners for its 2021 series of Violin Masterclasses and Concerts". The Strad. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  20. "Event Benefiz-Aktion: Der Ton macht die Musik – Besuch von 2 Geigen-Meisterkursen der Kronberg Academy & Gespräch mit Geigenbauer". Frankfurter Stadtevents (in German). 1 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  21. "Gidon Kremer Stiftung". Gidon Kremer Stiftung. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  22. "Kronberg Academy: Emanuel Feuermann Conservatory / general". kronbergacademy.de. Retrieved 30 October 2018.

Further reading

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