Yesterday at the MECMA: Cello Concerto with Alexander Ramm
Cellist Alexander Ramm joined the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra yesterday, under the baton of conductor Oliveer Weder, with the MECMA's masterclasses and lessons continuing throughout the day.
As part of the EUFSC and SAMIT’s efforts to promote high quality musical education, this year’s edition of InClassica is also incorporating the inaugural edition of the Middle East Classical Music Academy (MECMA), taking place from the 4th to the 23rd of September. This educational initiative features three weeks of lectures, discussions and masterclasses in the schools of piano, wind, and strings, led by a roster of international professors and music pedagogues consisting of some of the most illustrious names active today. In addition, the MECMA is also presenting a series of daytime concerts featuring soloists, orchestras, and prodigies from all around the world, with select Academy students being offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of joining these artists in live performance on stage.
Yesterday at MECMA
Masterclasses:
Violin masterclass • Igor Petrushevski
Piano masterclass • Stepan Simonian
Quotes from Professors:
Igor Petrushevski
- “Everything is very well organized, excellent students, they all want to learn how to play and many are already playing well, so I am very happy and I am glad that I am here.”
- “The level of students is very high. One of my students is a boy from Korea, he played with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and with Maxim Vengerov, he has already performed in many places. The other is from Mexico, he is the concertmaster of second violins in the largest orchestra in Mexico, teaches at the conservatory there, plays and performs a lot. The third one was a violinist from Iran — he is already a well-known soloist in his country. And they continue to improve, so they are here. We study for the rest of our lives, and so do I.”
- “Practice with concerts - when the Academy participants perform on the same stage with the stars and accompanied by a symphony orchestra - is very cool, this is something that is often lacking in educational institutions. I am very happy to take part in masterclasses and I am sure that this will be a good experience for all participants.”
Daytime concert: Piano Concerto
Alexander Ramm (cello)
- “This is my first time performing in Dubai. The Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra is not just a familiar band, but a native one, because it was in Kaliningrad that my musical life began. Many years ago, in 1995, I entered the Glier Music School and the concertmaster of the cello orchestra, Svetlana Ivanova, was my first teacher. Many orchestra members remember me as a 7-year-old child.”
- “It was the first time I collaborated with conductor Oliver Veder, but we quickly found common ground. And the wonderful music of Alexey Shor, we performed his new cello concerto. I am playing his previous work for cello, "Musical Pilgrimage", and this concert, despite the laconic name (Cello Concerto in F Major), is a large-scale composition with a wonderful melody. The premiere of this concert was played by Alexander Knyazev in Moscow a few months ago, and it was a pleasure for me to present it in Dubai. It's great that the composer was in the hall, that you can talk to him, although there were no suggestions from me that radically change something — I always try to follow the composer's plan.”
- “I think it is important that the participants of the Academy, who performed today and in the past days, immediately have concert practice. I believe that this is the only way to gain concert experience. Any classes at home or masterclasses with a professor should continue with the introduction, where the student can immediately consolidate new skills. I only welcome the participants of the Academy to go on stage and try to achieve the maximum that they have set for themselves.”
Oliver Weder
“Alexander Ramm is a fantastic partner, I am very glad that we performed together today. We had a three-hour rehearsal, during which we had to prepare everything in time. The orchestra is just great, they play concerts every day, but they do not lose concentration. We performed a great work by Alexey Shor, a Cello Concerto in F Major. I think everyone liked it, it's beautiful, inspiring music.”
“We also had two young violinists in concert today, they played Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, and this is a great event for aspiring musicians — to perform with a symphony orchestra, a famous cellist and a foreign conductor. Of course, it is also very pleasant for us, adult musicians, to be a support for young soloists, to take part in their concert. This is a great joy for all of us.”
Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra
Academy students selected to participate in the concert:
Elizaveta Zakharova (violin)
Miriam Davis (violin)
Students’ Programme:
P. Tchaikovsky - Concerto in D Major, 1st movement
F. Mendelssohn - Concerto in E Minor, 1st movement
