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Latest Blog Entry
Publication of Arrangement of Lysenko's Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes at Ries & Erler, Berlin (2-minute read)
Author Lukas Bärfuss and I began work on a production we named The Journey in 2018. We intended for it to span territories in Central and Eastern Europe, in search of untold stories. Meandering from the Ukraine to Lithuania, Poland to Romania, and Hungary to Switzerland, The Journey presents text from Lukas Bärfuss with songs lost and found, many of which I set or arranged with living composers, and that I play during performances. When I first read Lysenko’s Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes No. 2, Opus 18 Dumka-Shumka, its wistful opening theme immediately caught my attention. Following the sadness of the introduction, the music segues into a virtuosic solo cadenza, followed by the lively, joyful Shumka. I decided to programme Dumka-Shumka for The Journey. Composer Ákos Hoffmann and I arranged and edited it.
GAIA Music Festival is 17 years old in 2026. The programme for concerts between 26-30 November in Bern, Thun, Hilterfingen and Oberhofen in Switzerland will be announced in spring 2026.
Live performances, artist residencies, collaborations, and masterclasses.
Radio / Podcast
SRF Diskothek
Diskothek:Franz Schubert: Fantasie C-Dur für Violine und Klavier D 934 Eine seiner eigenen Lied-Melodien fantasierte der Komponist zu einem der schönsten aber auch schwierigsten Stücke des Geigenrepertoires aus.
«Sei mir gegrüsst» aus der Schönen Müllerin ist die musikalische Keimzelle dieser knapp halbstündigen Fantasie, die über zarten Klaviertremoli und mit einer geradezu himmlischen Geigenmelodie anhebt. Die unheimlichen Herausforderungen des Geigenparts wie auch des Klavierparts gilt es möglichst mit Leichtigkeit zu bewältigen, vom virtuosen Variationensatz bis zum ungestümen Finale.
Komponiert hat es Schubert 1827, ein Jahr vor seinem Tod, für den böhmischen Geigenvirtuosen Josef Slavík, den nicht nur Frédéric Chopin als den «zweiten Paganini» bezeichnete. Vorerst war dem «himmlischen» Werk kaum Erfolg beschieden, ein Kritiker verliess sogar den Saal, bevor es zu Ende war. Nun hat es sich aber längst als Juwel in Konzert und Diskografie etabliert.
Gäste von Moritz Weber sind die Musikwissenschaftlerin Sibylle Ehrismann und die Geigerin Gwendolyn Masin.
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
Arts Club
Gwendolyn's Bridge Club
Next Event: GAIA Music Festival, 20-23 November 2025 Located at a venue disclosed on the day, the 16th edition of the GAIA Music Festival reserves a spot especially for its Bridge Club members. Designed to impart a personalised experience at the festival, it is a soirée to remember. Be a part of it. Become a patron of Gwendolyn's Bridge Club, and support local art and artists, as well as the main event: the GAIA Music Festival.
Body Mapping is a somatic method specifically for musicians informed by neuroscience that illuminates the art of movement in musicians. Licensed Body Mapping Educators teach the power of intentional movement to prevent and eliminate performance-related injuries through self-awareness, practical anatomy, and efficient and dynamic movement. Gwendolyn Masin is the first Licensed Body Mapping Educator in Switzerland, and the first world-wide to teach in German and Dutch as well as English. She was mentored by violinist Jennifer Johnson, a Sponsoring Teacher for the Association of Body Mapping Educators.
What is the Body Map and how can refining it help you in your music-making?
National Concert Hall of Ireland International Master Course 2025
The seventh edition founded and artistically directed by Gwendolyn Masin. With Lena Neudauer and Gwendolyn Masin (violin), Guy Johnston (cello), Oliver Schnyder (piano). Composer in residence, Emma O'Halloran. Applications deadline: 27 April 2025. Open to violin, viola, cello and piano students over the age of 18. National Concert Hall | Dublin, IRL
“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.
I am excited about the release of Vitali’s “Chaconne”, in our version for violin and organ, on Orchid Classics. Our perspective on the work provides new ideas about the colour and texture of the piece. Seeing as the score is not written for organ, the effects that you hear are entirely conceived by Francesca Ajossa and I. We recorded the Chaconne in Amsterdam’s legendary Orgelpark on their Sauer organ. The single is now available on all streaming platforms.
“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.
Gwendolyn's violin method for young players. The book is published by Müller & Schade, available in English and German versions, and is recommended by the Eurooean String Teacher's Association (ESTA).
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.
