Online practices throughout our departments

Classical Music Department
Our Main Subject Teacher Classical Music Violin, Peter Brunt shares his experience with online teaching and gives advise on how to prepare for online exams.

Main Subject Teacher Early and Classical Music Cello, Lucia Swarts’ YouTube video of her iconic Bach recording in the Rijksmuseum broke a new record and reached over 1.2 Mio. views!

And Classical Music Master Student David Perez comforted us with his version of a ‘Song for Health’. This recording was produced in cooperation with our partner Residentie Orkest. David is currently following the Master Specialisation Orchestra Master.

Alumnus Marc Wielart played in a hauntingly empty Concertgebouw to commemorate the victims of World War II.

The Nederlands Vioolconcours featured two of our violinists in their online editions. Alumna Coraline Groen performed the piece ‘Thin Air’ composed by Calliope Tsoupaki during the Festival for Compassion and Main Subject Teacher Ilona Sie Dhian Ho gave a webinar on how to prepare for the next Nederlands Vioolconcour in 2022.

Composition Department
Our head of the department, Martijn Padding composed a Requiem for Memorial Day (Herdenkingsdag) which premiered at Podium Witteman. Usually, composer and Main Subject Teacher Calliope Tsoupaki doesn’t play the piano in public but for her new composition Meeting Point, which thematises social distancing, she made an exception.

Early Music Department
It was a time for flutes in the Early Music Department: Master Student Rikki Wolpowitz is sharing his recording for his upcoming graduation, Boismortier’s Concerto for 5 Flutes all played by himself and Alumnus Thomas Triesschijn plays Boismortier’s sextet (also all on his own) which wins him a record deal in the ‘Huiskamer Challenge’. Additionally, Thomas and his ensemble ‘The Counterpoints’ are selected ‘the editor’s choice’ and ‘one to watch’ by Gramophone magazine for their debut CD…. and all this from home, congratulations!

Researcher and Main Subject Teacher Early Music Natural Trumpet Susan Williams writes a compelling article on the Corona crisis and gives the advice: Be kind to yourself! Furthermore, regular Guest Teacher Rachael Beesley writes a letter to her students on how to stay focused and motivated during those uncertain times.

Master of Early Music Natural Horn student Nicolas Roudier graduated with a 9,5 score and received a special prize for the best research video presentation. Just before the lockdown, he recorded Jadin - Fantasia for Horn & Piano together with Early Music alumnus Anders Muskens.

Our Lute class have been involved in a short series of masterclasses and lectures exploring modal theory in the sixteenth century, with a focus on the Novum Pratum Musicum of Emanuel Adriaenssen. Since it was impossible to end the project with a live concert, they have put together this online presentation.

Jazz
Teacher Niels Tausk edited this amazing video of our Jazz students from their homes in Portugal, Denmark and The Netherlands. And saxophone student Alba Gil Aceytuno graduates with this cheerful transcription of Kenny Garret’s Sing a Song from one of the most beautiful places to spend the lock-down, her home island Gran Canaria.

Sonology
Looking back at ‘Transformations of the Audible’, Gabriel Paiuk summarizes his highlights and selected a couple of the lectures, that are now available online and not just relevant to our sonologists. Internationally acclaimed scholars from e.g. Yale University came together in this multidisciplinary symposium.

Researcher and composer Rebekah Wilson on remote teaching: ‘I was waiting here (online) for years, and finally everybody joined me!’ She is currently working on Networked Music Performance and Scores in Electroacoustic Composition and gives live concerts on YouTube.

Also, our students are regularly performing live online. You can find a couple of familiar faces on ZST Live. These concerts where made possible by our partners from Zuiderstrandtheater.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, last year's'Sonology final presentation concerts were all cancelled. The Sonology Department created a playlist with a selection of works that were all mixed for headphones.

Art of Sound
Art of Sound Master student Alla Evdokimova, who just returned from her exchange semester in Singapore at YST Conservatory, won the Student Recording Competition Bronze Award of AES (online edition).

Music Education
What do you do when your end recital is around the corner but there is no wind band orchestra that could perform your composition because of the Covid-19 crisis? You form your own wind band orchestra! And that’s exactly what Bachelor of Music Education student Sander van Dorst did. As a multi-instrumentalist, he recorded all 36 parts himself. His dream of standing in front of a real wind band orchestra will hopefully come true. From the new school year onwards, Sander will study Wind Band Conducting with Main Subject Teacher Alex Schillings.

Dance Department
From the spacious studio 5 into the kitchen: Esther and Chao share their experience of teaching Ballet at home.

And two alumni were featured in a movie: Floor Eimers dances through the abandoned streets of Amsterdam, while (some years ago) Sacha Steenks danced through the bustling city centre of Rotterdam. Sacha returned to the Conservatoire after a career as a dancer and choreographer as our Coordinator Auditions.

Hester is one of the talented dancers who were nominated for the Piket Art Prize. We wish you good luck, Hester! And the Dutch National Ballet Academy created a Living Room Choreography for our third- and fourth-year students.

Class of 2020
Despite the difficult circumstances during the Covid-19 crisis, our students still managed to graduate on time and without lowering the high artistic standards we demand of our graduates. We selected some highlights of the online exam portfolios in a short video.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 - this time we do not refer to our students - but to our teachers who obtained a Master’s of Music degree this year during the (online) Master Research Symposium.

School voor Jong Talent
Our youngest musicians don’t hold back when it comes to excelling online. Adinda, Christiaan, Jala and Matthijs played at the first Online Chamber Music Festival: Classical Encounters.

Additionally, our students were very successful in the online edition of the Prinses Christina Concours. Job en Evander won the First Prize. We congratulate all winners.

Also be sure to check out last year’s kinderprinsengrachtconcert with two of our School for Jong Talent students Christiaan Bloom and Rory Bleeker. This year’s artist in residence will be no other than Janine Jansen. Christiaan will take us backstage and vlog the concert on Instagram Stories.