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Latest Blog Entry
Bringing the Wealth Home
Growing up in Ireland in the 80’s and 90’s was an experience that greatly shaped me as a human being and as a musician. The sense of community, kindness, humour and respectful way about people was deeply impressed upon me. I wanted to be a part of it, I wanted to jump on every opportunity to be involved. Arriving to the island as a young child, I was welcomed by inquisitive classmates who showed me the lay of the land. Having had low numbers of immigrants in recent times in comparison to other countries, the arrival of newcomers from across the world as of the late 90’s felt exciting, fresh and like Ireland had not only been discovered, but had discovered itself.
But life on the island also had its downsides and geographical limitations. Every violinist of note during those decades, and in the ensuing time, left the island to study at third level. Although this might seem like a natural next step for many an aspiring musician, this journey to artistic development is less common in other parts of Europe. In Germany, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, to name just a few, the abundance of good string teachers enables students to find a teacher of renown between one city and the next.
However, in Ireland, the cost of studying abroad comes at great expense not only to the families of young musicians, but to the continued legacy of string-playing in Ireland: it commonly results in a loss for the classical music eco-system, whilst other parts of the world gain yet another great Irish talent.
The Journey - mit Lukas Bärfuss, ORIGIN Ensemble, Miklós Lukács
The Journey ist eine literarisch-musikalische Reise in den Osten. Minsk, Odessa, Istanbul und Sarajevo. Die Route folgt den Menschen, die ihre Heimat verlassen mussten. Ihre Lieder erzählen vom letzten Morgen im alten Zuhause, vom ersten Abend in einem fremden Bett. Geschichten aus alten Zeiten? Es sind die Neuigkeiten des Tages. Inspiriert von ihrer osteuropäischen Herkunft und dem tiefen Wunsch, Brücken zwischen Genres, Kulturen und Epochen zu bauen, greift Gwendolyn Masin zusammen mit ihren ungarischen Volksmusikkollegen und dem internationalen ORIGIN Ensemble tief in die musikalischen Schatzkammern der Region, um eine Klanglandschaft zu schaffen, die unsere ureigensten Emotionen weckt – die Palette reicht von Freude und Begeisterung bis hin zu Trauer und Leid, von Niederlage und Verlust bis hin zu Triumph und Widerstand. > Alle Aufführungen und Tickets kaufen > Mehr lesen
Festival
GAIA Music Festival 2024
GAIA Music Festival is 15 years old in 2024. This edition's theme is "Mensch", and is an exploration and reminder of the impact that kindness, humility, integrity and personal responsibility can have on our immediate as well as broader environment.
National Concert Hall of Ireland International Master Course 2024
The sixth edition founded and artistically directed by Gwendolyn Masin. With Sarah Christian and Gwendolyn Masin (violin), Hartmut Rohde (viola), Maximilian Hornung (cello), and Nicholas Rimmer. Composer in residence, Emma O'Halloran. Applications deadline: 29 April 2024. Open to violin, viola, cello and piano students over the age of 18. National Concert Hall | Dublin, IRL
Most Recent Event: Theaterplatz 2, 3011 Bern On 5 April 2023, Gwendolyn’s Bridge Club hosted “Cancel Culture?”, an
evening with Mohomodou Houssouba, author, literary scholar and member of the International Institute for African Studies, and Inés Mateos, expert on education and diversity and a member of Institute New Switzerland (INES) in a discussion moderated by Jörg Scheller, professor of art history at the ZHdK, journalist and musician.
Next Event: The Secret Garden Party, 20 August 2023
“Legends” is a collaborative project in partnership with GAIA Music Festival, Orchid Classics and SRF 2 Kultur. Born out of an idea to elevate Irene Wieniawski aka Poldowski - composer, pianist and daughter of Henryk Wieniawski - as well as draw a family tree of blood lines and student-teacher relationships, the album showcases works that have rarely been explored before. These include Poldowski’s Tango for Violin and Piano, Eugène Ysaÿe’s String Quintet as well as George Enescu’s Sept Chansons de Clément Marot. Performing artists include violinist Kirill Troussov, soprano Rachel Harnisch and pianist Jan Philip Schulze.
Live performances, artist residencies, collaborations, and masterclasses.
Concert Series
Cocktail für die Musen in Berne's Casino
Gwendolyn's annual concert series "Cocktail für die Musen" offers classical music fans a place to discover newness in the ‘mix’ and curious music-lovers an adventure for all the senses. The next concert takes place in October 2023 in Berne Casino's Great Hall with guests Lukas Bärfuss, ORIGIN Ensemble and cimbalom-player Miklós Lukács.
Gwendolyn's four-part series of articles for The Strad Magazine are woven around a holistic approach to learning and living as a musician. From the origin of human movement to the integration of somatic experience for the purpose of interpreting music, Gwendolyn builds a case for teaching human beings as a whole.
The Exhale is an online platform and in-person retreat providing professional courses and holistic masterclasses to musicians, practitioners, and artists from across the globe. It is unique in its holistic approach to music education. The Exhale redesigns how music is taught and practiced by exploring a broad variety of topics and offering a range of classes that encapsulate a diversity of subjects that, to date, is not offered on one single platform anywhere else.
A unique happening, facilitating new audiences: Simon and Gwendolyn occupied the shop window of Loeb in Bern during three days of concert performances. Relive their last performance in our livestream.
“Violin Teaching in the New Millennium" is a collection of stories about music, violinists and violin performance – involving intrigues and anecdotes, revealed secrets and unpublished interviews given by some of the leading lights of the classical music world.
