Schubertianum
Academy for Masterclasses

The International Academy for Masterclasses, the Schubertianum, is aimed at music students in the upper semesters and young professional musicians. Anyone who wishes to carry out an intensive preparation for a university degree, for competitions, concerts or auditions will find the ideal platform here. Courses and lessons can be tailored to the individual requirements of the students. The possibilities range from weekly lessons up to rehearsal weekends or intensive one-week courses. The following Masterclasses are offered:

• Interpretation of the classic Lied repertoire for singers with or without partners at the piano
• Development of the opera repertoire for singers
• Masterclasses for piano, and also with chamber music formations
• Courses in conducting.

There is also the possibility of a concert with subsequent feedback at the end of the course of lessons. The feedback that everyone gives himself will also be taken into account, with the goal of achieving the greatest possible congruence between self and third-party perception. The subject of self and third–party assessment runs through the complete work process as a central theme, and optimal musical and mental preparation is thereby guaranteed. A new Steinway-D concert grand piano and digital recording technology are available.

 

Course languages: German, English, Italian, French.

 

The location: The Academy is located in Dornach, an oasis of peace on the outskirts of Basle, in beautiful countryside surroundings. Thanks to its location in the three-country corner of Switzerland, Germany and France, it has optimal traffic connections, and there are numerous accommodation options in Dornach itself. 

 

Some thoughts of the founder and director of the Schubertianum, Jany Renz:

“A large part of my musical and life experience has lead to the Academy. It meets a requirement of our times. Nowadays, young musicians not only have to offer a high performance in their particular field, but also have to be very strong and resilient mentally. There is an initial contradiction here for many musicians; how can the high sensitivity that the music needs be combined with physical stability? I have looked into this question in great detail. At the start of my long career, I myself suffered from stage-fright, above all as a pianist, because the fine motor system, of both the hands and the voice, reacts in the most sensitive manner to disturbances of all kinds. In my work as a psychotherapist I have researched this phenomenon and have developed strategies with which performance under stage fright can be practised and improved. They keys to this are consciousness and creativity. The fine art is to utilise stage-fright as a motor for increased performance, which is possible, and can be developed in my courses. A further factor is that, in the fast pace of our times, there is often hardly any time for in-depth study, a large repertoire has to be developed in the shortest possible time, and, for financial reasons, concerts are usually completed with a minimum number of rehearsals. The lack of musical in-depth study leads to the situation in which we may have a large number of musicians available for competitions, auditions and examinations who are technically very capable; nevertheless, the decision to engage someone or to award a first prize often becomes more difficult because something is missing, and hardly anyone is convincing and really touching from an emotional, artistic standpoint. The Academy thereby also sees itself as a place of in-depth study, where musicians can themselves develop that special something that makes all the difference in the end.”

 

A little history: In 1984, Jany Renz founded the “Accademia di Santa Maria”, his international academy for Lied, in Iseo (Ticino, Switzerland). Its master concerts with well-known singers and chamber musicians (with Jany Renz always at the piano) helped to shape the musical scene in Southern Switzerland for a decade. The appointment of Jany Renz to Freiberg led to an interruption of its activities, during which the idea of continuing the Academy in an expanded form (including pianists and conductors) with a more concentrated content (Masterclasses) at a more strategic location in Switzerland was able to develop. As a result, the Schubertianum was founded in 2010.

 

Brief biography of Jany Renz

Jany Renz completed his extensive musical education in his home town of Basle (Switzerland). He studied piano with Ivan Engel (Budapest and Basle), flute and ancient music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under Hans-Martin Linde and conducting under Wilfried Boettcher. In parallel to his musical studies, he also studied to become a psychiatrist and psychotherapist at the University of Basle.

He begins his musical career as a pianist. He soon turns to chamber music and accompanying Lied, and becomes a preferred partner for leading singers and chamber musicians. As a lecturer, he teaches singing and Lied accompaniment in mastercourses within the framework of many international music festivals.

His conducting career initially leads him to the Teatro Regio in Turin (Italy), as first conductor under Peter Maag. As the GMD of the Central Saxony Philharmonia, he conducts the Theater in Freiberg (Germany). His international work takes him to Asia, America and throughout Europe. He has special associations with Finland and Italy, where he regularly conducts. In Hungary, he performs Bruckner’s Ninth with the Budapest Philharmonic, which becomes the best-selling version of this work in the USA in August 1991.
The Academy Schubertianum was founded by Jany Renz in 2010, as the successor institute to his “Accademia di Santa Maria”, under his artistic direction.