Virtuoso Violin Festival

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

The Eleventh Bach and Paganini Festival for Violinists, will take place in August 2012. It will provide a wealth of master classes, individual tuition and recitals for over 20 violinists aged between 16 and 36 years of age.

The Virtuoso Violin is a festival celebrating the works for solo violin of Bach and Paganini plus other string music.

The Virtuoso Violin Festival takes place in the lovely market town of Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare, and home to the world – famous Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Orchestra of the Swan. The course is intensive, but students have time to explore the town and its abundant artistic heritage and also visit London or historic Warwick. The surrounding area is steeped in history, and Stratford is approximately one hour from Oxford and one-and-a-half hours from Bath. Birmingham, England’s second City, is just over 30 minutes away.

All master classes, lessons and solo recitals take place at King Edwards VI Grammar School (Shakespeare’s School). The orchestral concert will take place in Holy Trinity Church, the burial place of Shakespeare.

Concerts will take place on:

Please watch this space for further information.

Want to know more about the Virtuoso Violin Festival 2011?

The Course

The aim of the course is to inspire an in-depth understanding of the music of Bach and Paganini but students are also encouraged to study repertoire of their own choice. The course will suit students wishing to develop new techniques as well as professional players looking to revise and refresh existing ones. The solo studies course will culminate with a concert on Saturday 5th and an orchestral finale on Monday 8th August.

Each applicant must have studied to at least UK grade 8 (or equivalent), and have prepared the following works, which will be studied during master classes and individual tuition sessions.

Complete Sonata or Partita for unaccompanied violin by J.S. Bach from BWV 01 001 – 1 006, and
Caprice from the 24 Caprices, Op-1 by Paganini

All participants have the opportunity to take part in one or two concerts in Stratford-upon-Avon.

To Apply

Applications should include the following information:

Your full name and date of birth
Your home address. Please include postal city, Post/Zip Code, and Country
Telephone contact number, including Country Code
Fax Number (if applicable), including Country Code
Email address
Please give some indication as to how your course fees will be funded, i.e. whether self-funded, by your local or national Government, or by grant from a funding organisation

You must also include:

Your CV
Two letters of reference from your teacher , tutor or someone in a position of authority in the classical music world and who is familiar with your playing.
A cassette or CD (not longer than 15 minutes total duration) containing one movement of the unaccompanied Bach (from the Sonatas and Partitas) and any work of your choice.

Please send to the festival office address:

The Administrator,

The Virtuoso Violin,

29 Johnson Road,

Erdington,

Birmingham,

B23 6PU,

United Kingdom.

You can also email The Administrator using the Contact Us form

Deadline: The deadline for applications is the 31st May 2012. Successful applicants will be notified by the 28th June 2012 and places must be confirmed by a deposit (further information coming soon)

The Fee

The fee for the 2012 festival is to be announced. It covers all accommodation, breakfast, mid-morning snack, packed lunch and all master classes, individual tuition, coaching and concerts. It does not include evening meals or travel to and from Stratford. A small bursary fund is available for some who wish to attend.

The Course Leaders

Dr. Rimma Sushanskaya, Artistic Director, is an international concert violinist, acclaimed throughout the world for her opulent tone colours, her gripping expressive virtuosity, and her ever-present rhythmic vitality. The last pupil of the legendary David Oistrakh, she continues the great Russian tradition of violin playing. She has studied the unaccompanied works of Bach with the great Bach scholar Dr. Rosalyn Tureck. Rimma is currently a visiting lecturer of violin at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Felix Andrievsky is Professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London. He has also worked at the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Rubin Academy at Tel Aviv University, while also serving as professor and Director of studies at the International Menuhin Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. He was a member of juries in international competitions, Director and professor of summer programs all over Europe as well as Korea and Australia and is in the ESTA.

Savely Shalman, Professor at the Special School of Music in St Petersburg and distinguished Russian violin teacher. He has given masterclasses and lectures throughout Russia and Eastern Europe. His technique has met with great success, and he is the author of a number of books on the subject. He is a member of the International Secretariat of ESTA, and Chairman of the board of ESTA-Russia.

Professor Alvia Vandysheva has been teaching violin since 1982 and is now head of strings at the College of Music at the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire. She has given a number of masterclasses in Russia, Europe, Asia and America. She has been awarded medals by the Presidents of Russia and Italy and is on the board of the International Fund Novye Imena.

Rimma Sushanskaya