Ventures
Ventures
Kirill Gerstein invites
An online forum with leading thinkers
Dear colleagues, students and friends,
In April 2020, partially prodded by the pandemic, I decided to act on an idea that had long been brewing in my mind: to organize an ongoing series of seminars and discussions, taking advantage of the internet’s possibility of hosting virtual forums with people who logistically would be unlikely to gather in one physical room. While I remain a sceptic about the internet’s ability to provide a nourishing musical replacement for live performances, it is obviously well-suited for its original mission of knowledge-sharing and education. To this end, the weekly online forum - 'Kirill Gerstein invites' - with leading thinkers was started. Until December 2020, the initiative was based at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Since the beginning of 2021, the seminars have been hosted by Kronberg Academy.
We have now had 46 seminars of circa two hours each filled with insights from formidable intellectuals, classical and jazz musicians, writers, musicologists, stage directors and philosophers. Over 10,000 active participants have joined the forum and many people have contributed and commented live during the discussions. Previous seminars available via my YouTube channel here have had over 68,000 views. What I didn’t fully imagine at the start is how being in a virtual seminar room would extend our mental space and allow for a collective experience. Together with the knowledge shared, this collective experience is the most rewarding outcome of this undertaking. I am grateful for the attention, questions and feedback that you have given. The intellectual prowess, vitality and curiosity of participants from over 60 countries that regularly gathered in our room humbles me.
I look forward to welcoming you to the upcoming seminars.
The forums are open to the public and feel free to share the newsletter registration link with your friends who may be interested in joining us: https://kirillgerstein.com/newsletter/
Wishing you a healthy summer and continued curiosity.
Yours, Kirill Gerstein
Andreas Staier, 29.4.20
"Renaissance Keyboard Music, as represented by William Byrd”
Andreas Staier, 30.4.20
“The 6 Partitas BWV 806-811, as a part of J.S. Bach’s Klavierübung”
Andreas Staier, 1.5.20
“Beethoven’s Sonatas and Variations for piano”
Nicolas Hodges, 6.5.20
“Landscape of the piano repertoire post-1960 to the present”
Paul Boghossian, 13.5.20
“Music and Meaning”
Claudio Martínez Mehner, 20.5.20
“Limitations of notation in (Piano) music”
Brad Mehldau, 27.5.20
“Creativity in improvised and composed music”
Anthony Fogg, 3.6.20
"Strategies and considerations in artistic planning and programming”
Gergely Fazekas, 10.6.20
“Kurtág translating Beckett”
Thomas Adès, 17.6.20
"Live Cultures”
John Deathridge, 24.6.20
"Wagner and Schubert. The Idea of the Lied in Public and Private Life”
Ian Bostridge, 1.7.20
"Schubert's Winterreise”
Iván Fischer, 8.7.20
“The future of the symphony orchestra”
Iván Fischer, 7.10.20
“Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and the rebirth of the Greek tragedy“
Alex Ross, 11.11.20
“Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music“
Andreas Staier, 18.11.20
“C.P.E Bach: his music and influence”
Andreas Staier, 30.11.20
“C.P.E. Bach continued: The Berlin music scene c. 1780-1830”
Matthew Aucoin, 2.12.20
“The Firewood and the Fire: Setting Poetry to Music”
Gary Burton, 9.12.20
“Improvisation in Jazz”
Kirill Serebrennikov, 16.12.20
"A Modern Actor. What is it?"
Elizabeth Wilson, 13.1.21
"The Many Faces of the Russian Pianist Maria Yudina"
Steven Isserlis, 20.1.21
"Portrait of a lifetime’s journey - the 5 sonatas for piano & cello by Beethoven"
Simon & Gerard McBurney, 10.2.21
"Opera into Drama"
Robert Levin, 17.2.21
"On performing Mozart piano concertos"
Sasha Waltz, 10.3.21
"Dialogues between dance, music and the visual arts"
Reinhard Goebel, 17.3.21 & 7.4.21
"300 Years Of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos"
Simon Callow, 24.3.21
"Shakespeare in Time"
Emma Smith, 28.4.21
"Shakespeare as Collaborator"
Simon Callow, 5.5.21
"Orson Welles: The Genius Who Failed"
Rachel Beckles Willson, 19.5.21
"Sound journeys with the oriental lute"
Deborah Borda, 26.5.21
"Unexpected Solutions"
Rafael Viñoly, 23.6.21
"On Design: In Architecture, Objects and Music"
Antonio Pappano, 30.6.21
"Puccini's symphonic poem: "La fanciulla del West"
Samuel Jay Keyser, 9.7.21
"The Mental Life of Modernism"
Maurice van Lieshout, 15.10.21
“The influence of language on rhythm in 18th century music”
Clive Brown, 20.10.21
“The deceptive simplicity of musical notation”
Joseph Horowitz, 17.11.21
“Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Fate of Black Classical Music”
Kaija Saariaho and Aleksi Barrière, 26.11.21
“Music & Dramaturgy in a multilingual world”
Robert Levin, 15.12.21
“Bach’s tonal cosmology: Examining his structural procedures”
Ai Weiwei, 5.1.22
“The Art of Being an Artist”
Gerard McBurney, 12.2.22
"Ploughing the Black Earth: how Mussorgsky created "Khovanshchina"
Antony Beaumont, 16.2.22
"Alexander Zemlinsky and his search for good fortune"
Joshua Redman, 23.322
"Finding and losing yourself through jazz"
Khatchig Mouradian, 22.4.22
"The Resistance Network’ and Confronting Atrocities Today"
Michael Haas, 11.5.22
"German and True - the Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis"
Erika Fox, 22.6.22
"Music from Elswhere"
Alan Gilbert, 21.10.22
“Can conducting be taught?”
Rebecca Mitchell, 29.03.23
“Rachmaninoff's 150th anniversary - his musical influence"
Dear colleagues, students and friends,
In April 2020, partially prodded by the pandemic, I decided to act on an idea that had long been brewing in my mind: to organize an ongoing series of seminars and discussions, taking advantage of the internet’s possibility of hosting virtual forums with people who logistically would be unlikely to gather in one physical room. While I remain a sceptic about the internet’s ability to provide a nourishing musical replacement for live performances, it is obviously well-suited for its original mission of knowledge-sharing and education. To this end, the weekly online forum - 'Kirill Gerstein invites' - with leading thinkers was started. Until December 2020, the initiative was based at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Since the beginning of 2021, the seminars have been hosted by Kronberg Academy.
We have now had 46 seminars of circa two hours each filled with insights from formidable intellectuals, classical and jazz musicians, writers, musicologists, stage directors and philosophers. Over 10,000 active participants have joined the forum and many people have contributed and commented live during the discussions. Previous seminars available via my YouTube channel here have had over 68,000 views. What I didn’t fully imagine at the start is how being in a virtual seminar room would extend our mental space and allow for a collective experience. Together with the knowledge shared, this collective experience is the most rewarding outcome of this undertaking. I am grateful for the attention, questions and feedback that you have given. The intellectual prowess, vitality and curiosity of participants from over 60 countries that regularly gathered in our room humbles me.
I look forward to welcoming you to the upcoming seminars.
The interest, turnout and the interaction in our virtual room has been gratifying and thrilling. I invite you to join! This initiative has been enthusiastically supported by the Hanns Eisler Hochschule and is open to people beyond our school community. I am looking forward to welcoming you to our seminars and to continuing this initiative through these turbulent times and beyond.
Happy Learning!
Andreas Staier, 29.4.20
"Renaissance Keyboard Music, as represented by William Byrd”
Andreas Staier, 30.4.20
“The 6 Partitas BWV 806-811, as a part of J.S. Bach’s Klavierübung”
Andreas Staier, 1.5.20
“Beethoven’s Sonatas and Variations for piano”
Nicolas Hodges, 6.5.20
“Landscape of the piano repertoire post-1960 to the present”
Paul Boghossian, 13.5.20
“Music and Meaning”
Claudio Martínez Mehner, 20.5.20
“Limitations of notation in (Piano) music”
Brad Mehldau, 27.5.20
“Creativity in improvised and composed music”
Anthony Fogg, 3.6.20
"Strategies and considerations in artistic planning and programming”
Gergely Fazekas, 10.6.20
“Kurtág translating Beckett”
Thomas Adès, 17.6.20
"Live Cultures”
John Deathridge, 24.6.20
"Wagner and Schubert. The Idea of the Lied in Public and Private Life”
Ian Bostridge, 1.7.20
"Schubert's Winterreise”
Iván Fischer, 8.7.20
“The future of the symphony orchestra”
Iván Fischer, 7.10.20
“Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and the rebirth of the Greek tragedy“
Alex Ross, 11.11.20
“Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music“
Andreas Staier, 18.11.20
“C.P.E Bach: his music and influence”
Andreas Staier, 30.11.20
“C.P.E. Bach continued: The Berlin music scene c. 1780-1830”
Matthew Aucoin, 2.12.20
“The Firewood and the Fire: Setting Poetry to Music”
Gary Burton, 9.12.20
“Improvisation in Jazz”
Kirill Serebrennikov, 16.12.20
"A Modern Actor. What is it?"
Elizabeth Wilson, 13.1.21
"The Many Faces of the Russian Pianist Maria Yudina"
Steven Isserlis, 20.1.21
"Portrait of a lifetime’s journey - the 5 sonatas for piano & cello by Beethoven"
Simon & Gerard McBurney, 10.2.21
"Opera into Drama"
Robert Levin, 17.2.21
"On performing Mozart piano concertos"
Sasha Waltz, 10.3.21
"Dialogues between dance, music and the visual arts"
Reinhard Goebel, 17.3.21 & 7.4.21
"300 Years Of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos"
Simon Callow, 24.3.21
"Shakespeare in Time"
Emma Smith, 28.4.21
"Shakespeare as Collaborator"
Simon Callow, 5.5.21
"Orson Welles: The Genius Who Failed"
Rachel Beckles Willson, 19.5.21
"Sound journeys with the oriental lute"
Deborah Borda, 26.5.21
"Unexpected Solutions"
Rafael Viñoly, 23.6.21
"On Design: In Architecture, Objects and Music"
Antonio Pappano, 30.6.21
"Puccini's symphonic poem: "La fanciulla del West"
Samuel Jay Keyser, 9.7.21
"The Mental Life of Modernism"
Maurice van Lieshout, 15.10.21
“The influence of language on rhythm in 18th century music”
Clive Brown, 20.10.21
“The deceptive simplicity of musical notation”
Joseph Horowitz, 17.11.21
“Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Fate of Black Classical Music”
Kaija Saariaho and Aleksi Barrière, 26.11.21
“Music & Dramaturgy in a multilingual world”
Robert Levin, 15.12.21
“Bach’s tonal cosmology: Examining his structural procedures”
Ai Weiwei, 5.1.22
“The Art of Being an Artist”
Gerard McBurney, 12.2.22
"Ploughing the Black Earth: how Mussorgsky created "Khovanshchina"
Antony Beaumont, 16.2.22
"Alexander Zemlinsky and his search for good fortune"
Joshua Redman, 23.322
"Finding and losing yourself through jazz"
Khatchig Mouradian, 22.4.22
"The Resistance Network’ and Confronting Atrocities Today"
Michael Haas, 11.5.22
"German and True - the Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis"
Erika Fox, 22.6.22
"Music from Elswhere"
