Masterclass Alex Potter
COLLEGIUM VOCALE GENT – MASTERCLASS
Masterclass German Baroque for Young Vocal Soloists with Alex Potter & Elam Rotem
27-30 July 2025 – Asciano, Italy
“the singer cannot merely sing, but must sing artfully and engagingly, so that the heart of the listener is touched and his emotions are moved” – Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum
This masterclass is part of the Crete Senesi summer festival and offers young singers of all voice types the opportunity to work intensively with internationally renowned countertenor Alex Potter. This year, he will be joined by Elam Rotem, keyboard player, singer, creator and editor of the Youtube channel Early Music Sources, and director of the ensemble Profeti della Quinta.
The course is centered on the performance and interpretation of seventeenth-century sacred German Baroque repertoire from Heinrich Schütz until the young J.S. Bach in Weimar. Throughout this period German Baroque music was revolutionized and constantly enriched through contact with Italian music and musicians, which fused with Lutheran tradition to create an extensive and varied body of wonderful music to explore.
The course will mainly focus on moving and eloquent performances of solo repertoire and especially exploring contemporary German treatises about singing in the “Italian manner”. In addition, there will be exploration of some of the wonderful ensemble music of the period. See the end of the document for general repertoire suggestions(*).
Participants will work and stay in the breathtakingly beautiful part of Tuscany south of Siena known as the Crete Senesi. The working languages during the masterclass are English and German.
The pitch of the harpsichord/organ will be a=465
DATES & VENUES
All participants should arrive in the afternoon or evening of the 26th of July. The course will run from the morning of Sunday 27 of July until the final concert at 11am on Wednesday the 30th of July. Exact teaching and concert venues tbc.
HOW TO APPLY:
The masterclass is open to a maximum of 6 singers (born after 1995) who are studying for or hold a
Master’s degree in singing, or have attained a similar level of proficiency.
Please complete the online application form and send in audition videos as specified below.
The deadline for applications is the 19th of May 2025. Applicants will be informed whether they have been selected or not by the 30th of May 2025. There is no application fee.
AUDITION VIDEO
Audition videos should have a combined maximum duration of 15 minutes and should contain 2
contrasting works by different composers. At least one piece, or both works if you wish, should be German repertoire from the seventeenth century. Alternatively, you may prefer to record one piece of German repertoire together with a contrasting work of your choice from any place or period.
The two works may be presented separately, or together on one video.
You may use videos of recent performances or record new ones for this application.
The featured performances should be live, unedited and recorded within the last 2 years.
If your chosen videos are not already on YouTube, choose for the ‘hidden’ option then copy-and-paste the link into the field provided on the application form.
COURSE FEE
Selected singers are required to pay a course fee of €600.
All payments should be made by bank transfer before 27th of June 2025 to the Collegium Vocale Gent account:
COLLEGIUM VOCALE GENT vzw
Drongenhof 42
B-9000 GENT
IBAN : BE69 2900 2103 5378
BIC : GEBABEBB
Please mention your NAME + ‘MASTERCLASS CVG Senesi 2025` in the transfer purpose/reference line.
WHAT’s INCLUDED
The following are included as part of the course and included in the fee:
– Individual and group coaching as part of the masterclasses
– Participation in the public closing concert
– Accommodation from Saturday until Wednesday morning
– Transfer by car from a local train station to and from the course venue
– Light lunch on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
– Dinner on the opening night of the festival with the festival audience (Sunday)
– Free access to the festival evening concerts on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
Please contact our casting and auditions manager Dominique Verkinderen by email
dominique@collegiumvocale.com or Cell/Mobile +32 475 97 67 97.
* Repertoire ideas: Heinrich Schütz, Johann Rosenmüller, J.P. Krieger, Dietrich Buxtehude, Altbachisches Archiv, the Düben Collection, early works by Telemann, J.S. Bach Cantatas from the Weimar period and before, and any other ideas from the epoch you would like to bring along!