Montegral Academy

• A friendly course – for adults and young people in the wonderful region of Tuscany, just west of Florence.
• Il Convento dell’Angelo – conductor Gustav Kuhn founded the Montegral Academy of Music in this ex-monastery. It will be our home for the week, and is wonderfully kitted out for music, containing lots of separate rooms – perfect for chamber music! It’s in the rolling Tuscan hills, just a few miles north of the beautiful medieval town of Lucca. We will have the buildings to ourselves for the week!
• Chamber music – this is a string chamber music course, working principally on music for string quartet, trio and quintet.
• Music – the week will focus on music by Mozart, Beethoven and Ethel Smyth.  If you come in your own group, you are welcome – in addition – to bring music with you that you want to work on. We will also have a small library of music that you can use.

Music

The team – Peter Fender is the director and we are delighted to have the Alkyona String Quartet as our resident quartet (see About Us).

Players required – there will be a maximum of 28 players on the course. Priority will be given to string chamber groups: quartets, trios and quintets. Individuals are also welcome to apply, and we will put you into an appropriate group. Whether you are a music student, a professional, or an amateur, we welcome you all. As far as standard goes, we work from a minimum of about grade 6/7 up to advanced – but experience is every bit as important as ‘standard’.

Schedule – the schedule for the week will include daily coaching sessions in your chamber group, playing in the string orchestra, and some general musicianship activities – the focus, however, is very much on the chamber music.

Lecture recitals – the Alkyona Quartet will give two lecture recitals (one on Beethoven, the other on Ethel Smyth). There will also be the opportunity for groups to play in a performance at the end of the week.