For decades now, I have heard it said that interest in classical music is on the decline, to have lost its importance and popularity, to no longer be “useful”. In 2012, the National Endowment for the Arts (USA) reported that in that year, only 8.8% of the population had attended a classical music concert. My interest was piqued by these statistics, so I did a bit of my own digging. When I asked friends what they thought about classical music, apart from positive things, they felt that classical music was elitist, academic, dull, uninspired, a status symbol as opposed to an art form. Or, I found this one amusing — “too long.” Too long for what? “Just — too long!"
Gwendolyn's annual concert series "Cocktail für die Musen" aspires to offer 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 March 2022 in Bern Casino's Great Hall. The programme is based on Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals", with text by Simon Jäggi; Dominique Jann in the role of "The Father", and the participation of children from orchestras from Musikschule Konservatorium Bern.
The Exhale is an online platform providing professional courses and holistic masterclasses to musicians, practitioners, and artists from across the globe. The Exhale 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 not offered on one single platform anywhere else.
National Concert Hall of Ireland International Master Course 2022
Initiated by Gwendolyn and Finghin Collins, the National Concert Hall of Ireland hosts the fourth International Master Course in summer 2022 Irish and international participants will have the opportunity to enjoy coaching from Mihaela Martin, (violin), Lars Anders Tomter (viola), Frans Helmerson (cello), Finghin Collins (piano), and Gwendolyn Masin (violin).
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.
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.
