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Masterclasses

Our masterclass offers a wonderful opportunity for students of all ages to develop their musical abilities through daily individual lessons with experienced teachers and performers. In addition to their solo instrumental lessons, students can apply for chamber music coaching, which gives them a valuable experience in playing together with other participants of the festival.

The lessons are held at the Escola Básica e Secundária Tomás de Borba (EBSTB) de Angra do Heroísmo.The school boasts wonderful teaching facilities, with many large music rooms for lessons and individual practice.

Up to thirty students receive one-on-one lessons, as well as chamber music coaching, with opportunities to perform in public during the festival. We attract participants from a wide variety of backgrounds, from talented children up to Post-Graduate students and young professionals.

Masterclass 2024

23 – 29 July

Application deadline: 25 June 2024
The Hortênsia Music Festival is thrilled to welcome a truly inspirational group of musicians, presenting some of the most prestigious international teachers and soloists of today.

Albena Danailova

Violin

Bio

Hrachya Avanesyan

Violin

Bio

Anna Ulaieva

Piano

Bio

Sevak Avanesyan

Cello

Bio

Martin Henneken

Cello

Bio

Benjamin Villa

Piano

Bio

Tamila Kharambura

Violin

Bio

Paul Tulloch

Viola

Bio

General Information

Masterclass application deadline: 25th June 2024

The number of students per instrument is limited. We therefore advise early application to ensure your participation.

Dates: 23rd – 29th July

Recommended arrival date is 22nd July and departure on 30th July.

Each student will receive 3 one-on-one lessons.

All participants have the opportunity to present themselves at the Student Concerts, held on 27th and 28th July. Additionally, students are invited to attend several concerts by the invited artists throughout the festival.

Passive participation (observational only) is free of charge.

Lessons are held at Escola Básica e Secundária Tomás de Borba in Angra do Heroísmo, where rooms are also available for individual practice and rehearsal.

Masterclass Fees

Under 18 years old: 

Solo: 150€
Chamber music: 100€
Solo + Chamber music: 200€

Over 18 years old: 

Solo: 250€
Chamber music: 150€ (preformed ensembles only)
Solo + Chamber music: 350€ (preformed ensembles only)

Incentivo Artístico Açores

An initiative of HMF that provides educational opportunities for the youth of the Azores.

Participants from the Azores receive a 50% reduction in their participation fees.

How to travel to HMF?

Hortênsia Music Festival is held in the city of Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira, Açores, Portugal.

Airport: Lajes Airport – Terceira Island

Accommodation

There is a large variety of hotels and hostels, amongst other options, in the city of Angra do Heroísmo.

HMF has agreements with 2 excellent accommodations that provide discounted prices for the students of the Masterclass:

Palácio Santa Catarina Hotel (Promo Code: HortensiaMusic24)
Memória Hostel (simply mention you are a participant of the festival)

If you need help with accommodation or any other question, please do not hesitate to write to [email protected] or call +351916764870. 

We look forward to welcoming you to the festival!

Albena Danailova

Albena Danailova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, as the daughter of a violinist and a pianist. At the age of five she began her musical education with Nely Jeleva and Dora Ivanova at the music school and academy in her home city. She studied at the University of Music and Theater in Rostock and in Hamburg with Petru Munteanu. She finished her degree in 2001, having augmented her studies through masterclasses with artists including Ida Haendel and Herman Krebbers. In the same year she was engaged as second violinist  in the Bavarian State Orchestra, advancing in 2003 to become the leader of the first violins and in 2006 to first Concertmaster. During the 2003/04 season she held the same position in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since September 2008 Albena is Concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Albena Danailova is a prize winner of numerous competitions (2nd Prize “Kloster Schöntal”, Tibor Varga-Special Prize”, semi-finalist at the Moscow “Tchaikovsky Competition”, First Prize “Vittorio Gui”, among others). In addition to her work as an orchestral musician, she has established an equally successful career as soloist and chamber musician. She gives concerts regularly in Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, Israel and the USA. She has performed with orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, under leading conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Georges Prêtre, Andris Nelsons and Jesús López Cobos.

Albena Danailova has recorded for Deutschlandradio Kultur, the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (North German Radio), and for television and radio in her home country.

She has appeared twice as a Philharmonic soloist: On January 24, 2009, she performed Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat major, Hob I:105 at the Salzburg Mozart Festival with Tamás Varga, Harald Hört and Michael Werba under the direction of Seiji Ozawa and in October 2009 she was captivating in the violin solo of Richard Strauss’ tone poem, “Ein Heldenleben”, at the 2nd Subscription Concerts conducted by Georges Prêtre, a performance repeated in a concert in the Vienna Konzerthaus as well as at the “Concert for Austria” in the Brucknerhaus in Linz on October 26, 2009, which was broadcast live on ORF 2.

Since 2020 she is a Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.Albena Danailova plays a Stradivarius “Ex-Haemmerle” from the collection of the Austrian National Bank.

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Hrachya Avanesyan

Hailed as a “sensitive and highly skilled musician with expressive nuances” (Gramophone Magazine) and a “soloist with passionate power, feeling and sweet tone” (Frankfurter Allgemeine), Hrachya Avanesyan has secured his place as an outstanding violinist with first prizes at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin and Carl Nielsen competitions.

Avanesyan has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestre de Chambre de Pelléas, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Lille, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Liège Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, the State Orchestra of the Rhenish Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. These collaborations have been led by renowned conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Marc Soustrot, Walter Weller, Lan Shui, Christopher Warren- Green, Joji Hattori, Paul Goodwin, Paul Watkins, Joana Carniero, Alexander Vedernikov, Joshua Weilerstein, Patrick Davin and Daniel Raiskin.

Avanesyan has given stirring concerts in famous concert halls such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall, Salle Gaveau and Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Santury Hall in Tokyo, the Great Hall of the Moscow Kremlin, the Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Memorable performances include playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, performing with Ashley Wass at the Wigmore Hall, and collaborating with Maria João Pires, Maxim Rysanov, Andreas Brantelid, Alexander Chaushian, Lise de la Salle, Marianna Shirinyan, Lily Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Narek Hakhnazaryan and many others at festivals such as Montpellier, Menton, the Strasbourg Music Festival in Memory of Yehudi Menuhin, Al Bustan and the Copenhagen Summer Festival.

Avanesyan’s notable discography includes his premiere recording of Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 2, released in a comprehensive box set of Vieuxtemps’ concertos with the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra and Patrick Davin. His highly acclaimed album of music by Dvorak, recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia and Augustin Dumay, was also highly praised. In 2017, his CD of masterpieces by R. Schumann and J. Brahms, recorded with Boris Brovtsyn, Diemut Poppen, Alexander Chaushian and Yevgeny Sudbin, was released on the BIS record label and was named an iTunes A-List recording and BBC’s Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year. in 2018, a video recording of his concert with Maria João Pires was released on Imagine Clarity and reached millions of views on the platform.

Born in Armenia, he moved to Belgium at the age of 17 and studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels under the direction of Igor Oistrakh. He continued his training at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music with Augustin Dumay and at the Cologne Hochschule with Mihaela Martin. During his studies at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, he also honed his chamber music skills under the direction of the esteemed Artemis Quartet.

Avanesyan plays on a remarkable 1864 J.B. Vuillaume violin, which enhances the beauty and depth of his performances. With his extraordinary talent and passion, Hrachya Avanesyan captivates audiences around the world and contributes to his ever-growing reputation as one of the most important violinists of his generation.

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Anna Ulaieva

The Ukrainian-Austrian pianist Anna Ulaieva began her musical studies at the age of 5, receiving instrumental lessons on both violin and piano.

After having won a number competition prizes by the age of 11 for highly gifted children on both instruments, Anna chose the piano as her main instrument and started taking piano lessons with Prof. Nina Naiditsch at the “M.V. Lysenko” high school for gifted children in Kyiv (Ukraine).

She then continued her piano studies at the “Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music” in Kyiv with Yuri Kot and graduated with distinction. As a laureate of the “New Names of Ukraine” programme, her exceptional talent was honoured by a scholarship awarded by the President of Ukraine.

From 2009 she completed her piano studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Austria) with Prof. Milana Chernyavska and graduated in 2017 with excellent results.

Anna Ulaieva has won prizes at numerous renowned international competitions. Her greatest success to date is the 1st prize at the “Malta International Piano Competition 2018”. More than 720 pianists from more than 70 nations competed in the largest competition series in the world to win the largest prize money in competition history. Another milestone in her remarkable career was to receive a Blüthner Grand Piano as 1st prize after winning the Blüthner Golden Tone Award 2013.

Further competition successes include A. Scriabin Piano Competition Grosseto (2nd prize, 2018), German Piano Open Berlin (1st prize, 2017), Brahms Klavierwettbewerb Detmold (1st prize, 2017), Isidor Bajic Piano Memorial Competition (2nd prize, 2017), BlüthnerGolden Tone Award, (1st Prize, 2013), Josef Dichler – Piano Competition (1st Prize 2011), Jeune Talents (1st Prize 2011) as well as Martha Debelli Competition in the categories piano solo and chamber music piano quartet in Graz (1st Prize 2009,2011,2013).

Now she is herself a sought-after jury member at numerous international music competitions. Most recently at competitions in Serbia and Ukraine.

Anna Ulaieva made her solo debut in Kyiv in 2001 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. Since then, she has performed solo recitals and chamber and orchestra concerts all over the world and is a frequent guest at various festivals. She regularly performs with renowned orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra of Bavarian Radio, Kyiv Virtuosi Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and such conductors as Dmitry Jablonski and Christian Jarvi.

Her live CD recording of Tchaikovsky’s Seasons and Prokofiev’s sonatas confirms her artistic and pianistic abilities.

Anna Ulaieva is a lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, where she leads the highly gifted and preparation piano class. She also teaches at masterclasses in Austria, Portugal, France, China, Czech Republic and Ukraine.

A special concern of Anna’s is the advancement of highly gifted children and juveniles. In order to address this, she founded the master class “Gifted in Music” Kapfenberg (www.giftedinmusic.at) and acts as its artistic director.

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Sevak Avanesyan

Sevak Avanesyan is described as “a musician of extraordinary virtuosity and a remarkable range of sound capacities” (Bernard Greenhouse) and “undoubtedly, one of the most gifted musicians of his generation” (Janos Starker).

Born in Armenia in 1989, he moved to Belgium at the age of 13 where he became the youngest graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. At the age of 19 he graduated with the highest distinction in the class of Viviane Spanoghe.

In 2009 he was accepted in the class of the renowned cellist Claudio Bohorquez at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin.

Besides his regular studies, Sevak Avanesyan has received precious advice from world famous artists such as Janos Starker, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Maria Kliegel, Liuis Claret, Peter Bruns, Garry Hofman, Wolfgang Boettcher, Igor Oistrakh, Artemis Quartet, Gerhard Schulz and many others.

Since his youngest age, he has toured in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia as a member of the “Young Virtuosos” of AMAA.! Sevak has won many international competitions, including the First Prize at the “Young Soloists” competition in Luxembourg, First prize at the “Lions Club” European competition, “Golden Lable” prize by the Belgian music press association, first prize winner of “Belgische Stichting Roeping” promotion and many more.

Some of his most notable performances were at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Ford Hall in Toronto and the Sydney Opera House.

He has participated at notable festivals such as the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, Menton Festival and the Brahms festival (Brussels) among others. He has also collaborated with great conductors such as Hanns Graf, Hugh Wolf, Andrei Boreyko and the most recent was the world premiere of “DNA 15a15” composed by A.Irandian in Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, conducted by George Pehlivanyan. The concert was described as the “best concert of the season” by Belgian TV critics.

An ardent chamber musician, Sevak Avanesyan collaborated with Augustin Dumay, Philippe Graffin, Pascal Devoyon, Pavel Gililov, Maxime Vengerov, Aleksei Moshkov and with many great musicians of the younger generation: Alexander Khramuchin, Lily Maisky, Julien Libeer, Alissa Margulis, his brother Hrachya Avanesyan and many others.

In 2016 the “Rhythm & Intervals” documentary by Gomes Schahbazyan was premiered, which is about the life of Sevak Avanesyan in Berlin during the period of 2011 to 2013. The documentary has already won several festivals and was aired on ARTR TV.

Sevak is the Former Solo cellist of National Orchestra of Belgium, as well a regular jury member of Ysaye, Triomphe de l’Art and AGBU music competitions.
He plays on “The King” Mateo Gofriller cello from 1689, which is the very first Gofriller cello known. It is kindly given to him by Mischa Maisky.

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Martin Henneken

Martin Henneken received his first cello lessons at the age of six. He studied at the Musikhochschule Lübeck (Germany) with Troels Svane. He later studied with Reinhard Latzko at the Vienna University of Music (Austria) where he completed his Master’s degree with distinction. Musicians such as cellist Lynn Harrell and violinist Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) complemented his training. He has won awards several times at the German National Young Musicians Competition. He was a student of the Live Music Now Foundation created by Yehudi Menuhin.

During his studies, he played regularly with various orchestras, such as the Lübeck Philharmonic, the Volksoper Wien Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of India, Mumbai. In 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna Philharmonic) with which he had the opportunity to participate in recordings, international tours and festivals (Salzburg, Lucerne, BBC Proms). Since 2010, he has been 2nd Cello Soloist of the Gulbenkian Orchestra.

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Benjamin Villa

Benjamin Villa is a London-based pianist, conductor, and composer. At the age of nine, he was offered a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School of Music in the United Kingdom. He continued his studies in Austria at the University of Performing Arts, Graz where his teachers included Klaus Lang for composition, Martin Sieghart for conducting and Aurélie Tremblay for piano.

He has conducted orchestras including the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and Plovdiv State Opera Orchestra, and led a variety of projects, including concerts with youth orchestras.

As a pianist, he regularly accompanies singers and instrumentalists, as well as collaborating as a pianist in opera productions. His compositions have been performed in venues such as the South Bank Centre and Wigmore Hall.

Benjamin is also an experienced educator, teaching in Windsor Music Academy. His piano students consistently achieve competition success and many have been awarded music scholarships to study at the country’s most prestigious schools, such as St George’s School in Ascot, Hampton School, and Eton College.

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Tamila Kharambura

Violinist Tamila Kharambura was born in Lviv, Ukraine and at the age of five moved with her family to Portugal. She presents herself in regular recitals and chamber music concerts within Europe and frequently performs as soloist with orchestra in Portugal and in her country of birth – Ukraine. She has also played in various orchestras such as the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Volksoper Wien, Wiener KammerOrchester, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Gürzenich Orchester-Köln.

Between 2016 – 2022 she has held the position of Professor of Violin at the university Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. Having a passion for education and pedagogic work, Tamila co-founded in 2017 the Hortênsia Music Festival – a yearly masterclass and concert series set in the Azores, Portugal.
Tamila studied with her mother Elena Kharambura, with Gareguin Aroutiounian, Pavel Vernikov, Vesna Stankovic-Moffatt and Albena Danailova. She has received prizes in various national and international competitions, such as the competition “Prémio Jovens Músicos RDP” in Portugal (1st prize, 2011), where she was awarded the Young Musician of the Year 2011 Award.

In 2016 she premiered and recorded with Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and maestro Garry Walker the Violin Concerto by acclaimed Portuguese composer António Pinho Vargas, a work dedicated in memory of her teacher Gareguin Aroutiounian.

Other notable solo engagements included performances with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra of Casa da Música do Porto, Artquest Orchestra, Orquestra Clássica do Centro and Lviv Virtuosi Orchestra from the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine).

Currently Tamila lives in Germany and she is a member of the Sinfonieorchester Aachen.

Paul Tulloch

Born in 1986 in Melbourne, Australia, violist Paul Tulloch presents himself in a number of musical settings, with the scope of his performances ranging from solo to chamber, as well as orchestral engagements.

Paul is a member of the Sinfonieorchester Aachen in Germany. In 2022 he completed his Konzertexamen (solo-studies) with distinction at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold (Germany) in the class of Diemut Poppen. He had previously furthered his musical development with violists Matthias Maurer, Samuel Barsegian, Mario Gheorgiu and Tobias Lea.

As a passionate chamber musician, he has performed with such prominent musicians as Gary Hoffman, Diemut Poppen, Claire Desert and David Grimal as part of the Lumiéres d’Europe chamber music festival in Paris, and maintains long-standing chamber music partnerships with violinist Tamila Kharambura, pianist Anna Ulaieva, and cellist Fernando Costa. In 2017 Paul co-founded the Hortênsia Music Festival, a yearly festival presenting a series of concerts and masterclasses set in Azores, Portugal.

He has been a regular guest with the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Austria), the Orquestra Gulbenkian in Lisbon (Portugal) and the WDR Funkhausorchester (Germany).

Having undertaken his studies in both violin and viola, Paul received his Bachelor Degree in his hometown, at the University of Melbourne, under violinists Nelli Shkolnikova, Robert Davidovici and Elizabeth Sellars. He completed his Masters Degree with distinction from the Florida International University (FIU), USA, where he worked as Violin Teaching Assistant to Robert Davidovici. After coming to Europe, he studied with violinist Ida Bieler at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz in Austria.

Apart from his instrumental playing Paul is a well experienced singer, having gained much of his early musical training as a chorister of St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir, Melbourne, and later as a member of the internationally celebrated Choir of Trinity College Chapel, Melbourne.