Master Classes

The Vienna Philharmonic Society has partnered with the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall to offer Master Classes featuring woodwind, string and brass for young musicians from local high schools and major conservatories across the United States. The classes will feature instructors who are principal musicians in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to the students selected to participate in each class, the audience is open to high school and conservatory age musicians and teachers who can also benefit from observing the lessons with a principal musician.

Our first Master Classes premiered in February of 2017 and featured students of the flute, the cello and the trombone. Described as one of the most intense Master Classes they have ever attended, students learned how to bring the pieces to life by knowing the background and the history of the piece, the importance of the markings of the composer and using breathing and technical modifications to achieve greater variation in tone and intensity. They received guidance on playing solo as well as orchestral compositions and students and instructors were left wishing they had more time for learning and teaching.

In 2019, students studied with Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra musicians to improve their technique in the harp, the flute and the bass. Our 2018 Master Classes featured the clarinet, the violin and the trumpet. The lessons from the 2017 classes were echoed and added an emphasis on legato – learning techniques to help play in a smooth flowing manner, without breaks between notes and remembering to enjoy playing the music, releasing the tension of too much focus on the playing of the notes.