by Sofie Booy, DVS
On Monday the 13th of February, the French violist Vinciane Béranger came to give a Masterclass at Codarts in Rotterdam. This was organised as an Erasmus exchange between her and our teacher Karin Dolman. Vinciane gave a masterclasses in Rotterdam and Tilburg (the next day). Next month, Karin is will in return teach masterclasses in Paris and Lausanne, the conservatories where Vinciane teaches.
Vinciane also gave a concert Sunday the 12th of February together with Roderigo Robles de Medina in the Trinitatiskapel in Dordrecht. They played, among other pieces, a new composed piece by the American composer Sacco, who also gave a masterclass in Rotterdam that week.
The masterclass took place during the whole afternoon. There were 7 students who each got 45 minutes to play. We started with Anabel and Wilker, who both played the Schwanendreher by Hindemith. This was a combined lesson. She worked together with them by letting them play after each other when there was a question answer phrase in the music. This was really interesting to see and listen to. She said that she has never done a duo masterclass lesson so this was her first time but it went really well.
Vinciane also gave a little lecture about Rebecca Clarke. She talked about the manuscript and the different versions and editions that exist. There are multiple versions each with little differences, like an added accelerando or a missing note, which is very interesting to dive into.
Vinciane kept the masterclass very interesting for the listening students by asking questions if we could hear differences, or to give feedback or ideas on how to play something, or different character ideas. Because of this, it did not feel like having to listen a long time to see people play, but to really be interactive during the whole masterclass.
In the end, there was time to ask questions. Someone had a question about continuous vibrato from note to note. So she invited all of us on the stage with our violas. She gave everyone a mini lesson and individual tips. We first all looked if the student used arm or wrist vibrato, and from there on she gave some tips.
It was a very interesting masterclass where everybody learned a lot. It was very inspiring for us all, and every student left the masterclass with a lot of good energy to practice! Thank you Vinciane Béranger!
