Music academy at la loingtaine
Music Academy at La Loingtaine
Join us for a unique musical experience from the 3rd to the 11th of August in the beautiful and inspiring surroundings of La Loingtaine.
Refine your technique and explore chamber music under the guidance of renowned teachers:
- Anna GEBERT – violin & chamber music
- Aki SAULIERE – violin & orchestra training
- Silvia SIMIONESCU – violin & chamber music
- Raphael BELL – cello & orchestra training
ACCOMODATION
Full pension in comfortable double rooms at La Loingtaine, a charming 18th century farmhouse close to the forest of Fontainebleau.
LESSONS AND CONCERTS
Each student will receive five individual lessons throughout the week, with opportunities to perform in different concerts—including one with a chamber orchestra alongside faculty members.
Departure: August 11th
COURSE FEE
Full pension & lessons – 500€
HOW TO APPLY
Please send your application to academylaloingtaine@gmail.com, including:
– A video recording of your choice (approx. 15 minutes)
– Your biography
Application deadline: May 31st
Results announced: June 5th
HOW TO GET THERE
La Loingtaine is located at 40 rue Grande, 77690 Montigny-sur-Loing, France.
The easiest way to get here is by train from Paris Gare de Lyon—it’s a direct line and takes about 50 minutes. Once you arrive at the Montigny-sur-Loing train station, someone will be there to meet you.
From the house, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the village and just 10 minutes on foot to the beautiful forest of Fontainebleau. The river runs just beyond the garden.
Anna Gebert - Violin & Chamber Music
Anna Gebert is a sought-after chamber musician, teacher, concertmaster, and baroque violinist. She is Professor of Chamber Music at the Basel Academy of Music and Professor of Violin at the Zurich University of the Arts.
At 15, she joined the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and, two years later, co-founded the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. After training at the Karajan Academy and a year with the Berlin Philharmonic, she served as concertmaster of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne for five years. Her love of the outdoors then led her to Norway, where she became first concertmaster of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and taught at the University of Trondheim.
As a concertmaster and section leader, she has performed with over 25 major European opera and symphony orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera, BR Symphony Orchestra, and the Stockholm and Helsinki Philharmonic. Her operatic repertoire spans more than 60 works.
Her early teachers included Zinaida Gilels and Zoria Chikmurzaeva, followed by studies with Igor Bezrodny, Magdalena Rezler, Ana Chumachenco, and Miriam Fried. She also studied baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie and Walter Reiter.
She plays a 1794 Joseph Gagliano violin. She approaches teaching with deep empathy and a holistic understanding of human psychology.
Aki Saulière - Violin & Orchestra Training
A passion for chamber music has led violinist Aki Saulière to a varied and rich performing life, with frequent appearances in major halls and festivals throughout Europe and Asia.
Following her studies in London, Salzburg and Berlin, she returned to France and formed the Capuçon Quartet with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. The quartet performed in halls such as Salle Pleyel, Cité de la Musique, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Reina Sofia, and at the Schubertiades in Schwarzenberg; it collaborated regularly with Nicolas Angelich, Gérard Caussé, Frank Braley, and Clemens Hagen, and recorded for EMI.
As Artistic Director of La Loingtaine, musical space in Montigny-sur-Loing, France, Aki Saulière organizes concerts and masterclasses, performs in various formations, and has developed musical friendships which have led over the years to the creation of La Bande de La Loingtaine and the Camerata Fontainebleau.
In 2015 she was appointed as violin professor at the Royal Conservatoire in Bruxelles. She has shared a class at the Schola Cantorum in Paris with Jean-Pierre Wallez for three years, travels regularly to Japan for masterclasses, and co-directs the La Loingtaine Summer and Autumn Academies.
Recent solo performances include Brahms’ Double Concerto and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with orchestras in Japan and Norway and Concerto No 3 de Mozart in Spain.
As a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra she performs and has developed her musical sensibilities under the batons of Harnoncourt, Abbado, Haitink, and Berglund.
Work on period instruments has led to projects with the English Baroque Soloists, L’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, and Le Concert d’Astrée, under Gardiner, Herreweghe and Haim.
Silvia Simionescu -Viola & Chamber Music
Silvia Simionescu, internationally well-known violist, enjoys a diverse career that takes her all over the world as a performing musician.
Her appearances in major venues such as Paris Châtelet, Auditorium Barcelona, Wigmore Hall, KKL-Luzern, Tonhalle Zürich, Geneva Victoria Hall, Casals Hall Tokyo, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Teatro La Fenice in Venice and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, have been praised for her exceptionally passionate, intensive and intelligent musicianship.
Born in Romania, Silvia took up playing the violin at the age of six. After having completed her studies in Bucharest with Stefan Gheorghiu and Modest Iftinchi she joins the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland where she studies both violin and viola under the precious guidance of legendary Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Alberto Lysy and Johannes Eskaer.
Her rencontre with Ferenc Rados, pianist and pedagogue, has deeply influenced her musical approach.An avid and devoted chamber musician, Silvia had the great opportunity to enrich her artistic experience playing with internationally acclaimed musicians such as Joshua Bell, Carolin Widman, Ilya Gringolts, Ana Chumachenco, Alberto Lysy, Leon Fleischer, Jörg Widmann, Malin Hartelius, Bruno Giurana, David Geringas and others.
Silvia is a prizewinner of several international competitions among others: 1st Prize in the Brescia International Competition and 1st Prize as a member of the Ligeti String Trio at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition.
She performed as soloist in Romania, Italy, Switzerland, Lituania, India and Japan.
Raphael Bell -Cello & Orchestra Training
Raphael Bell is currently principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, guest professor at the Antwerp Conservatory, co-founder and co-director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival in the USA, and co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France.
As a chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Tokyo Suntory Hall, among others, and at festivals including Seattle Chamber Music, Ravinia, Verbier and Resonance Festival Belgium. He was part of the IMS Prussia Cove tour that won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music Award and has collaborated with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, James Ehnes, Martha Argerich, Pekka Kuusisto, Maxim Vengerov, as well as quartets including Brooklyn Rider, Dante, and Orpheus.
He has premiered works including Olli Mustonen’s Triptych for three cellos with Steven Isserlis, and chamber music by Sebastian Currier, Thomas Adès, Paola Prestini, and others. Solo concertos include Beethoven Triple concerto with the Virginia Symphony, Lalo concerto with Antwerp Symphony, Saint-Saens concerto with the Brasov Philharmonic, as well as Boccherini and Vivaldi concertos with Bruges Chamber Players. Other highlights include performances with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Luft Ensemble, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and Giovanni Sollima’s Violoncelles Vibrez! With Mario Brunello and Camille Thomas.
Raphael enjoys working with young musicians and has given masterclasses at the University of Texas, Lemmens Institute, Belgium Cello Society, and travels each year to teach in Japan. He has lead student orchestral projects at the Antwerp Symphony Academy, Musiq3 Festival in Brussels, and at the Royal Bruxelles Conservatory.
As a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, he played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s celebrated Mahler Symphony Cycle with Claudio Abbado. He has also worked with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Baroque Soloists, Munich Philharmonic, among others.
Raphael studied at The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and later with Mario Brunello, Steven Isserlis and Ferenc Rados.