Gwendolyn Masin

Gwendolyn Masin
Background information
Born	(1977-11-17)17 November 1977 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Classical music
Occupation(s)	Violinist, Author, Pedagogue,
Instruments	Violin
Website	Gwendolyn Masin

Masin performing in concert in Bern, 2007

Gwendolyn Masin (born 17 November 1977) is a Dutch and Irish violinist, author, and educator.

Early life

Masin was born in Amsterdam. She began to play the piano at the age of 3. Later at the age of 5, she took up the violin at the age of 5. Within her initial year of schooling, she gave her first public performance at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. At the age of 11, she performed her first recital in Ireland at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Shortly thereafter she appeared on the country's most popular television programme, The Late Late Show.

She continues to perform live broadcasts, as well as make appearances on television and radio shows or podcasts.

Masin began learning the violin in the class of Coosje Wijzenbeek. Following a move to South Africa, she continued her studies with her parents in Cape Town. She was the youngest violinist to receive a Grade 6 diploma with distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music at the age of 6. Subsequently, she studied in Amsterdam with Herman Krebbers between 1990 and 1996. She has received degrees and diplomas from four countries and her graduate studies were guided by Igor Ozim, Ana Chumachenco, Zakhar Bron and Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Career

She has performed as a soloist with the Hungarian National Philharmonic, the State Symphony Orchestras of Saint Petersburg and Belarus, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, the Savaria Orchestra, the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes, and Portugal’s Concerto Moderno. She also performs and records regularly in Ireland with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, the Chamber Orchestra of the Young European Strings School of Music.

In chamber music, she has had concerts with violinists Philippe Graffin, Jan Talich, Maxim Vengerov and Yuzuko Horigome, violists Guy Ben-Ziony, Gérard Caussé, Lilli Maijala, Isabel Charisius and Roger Chase, cellists Adrian Brendel, Alexander Baillie, Pavel Gomziakov, Gavriel Lipkind, Martti Rousi, Alexander Rudin, Julian Steckel and István Várdai, pianists Kit Armstrong, Julia Bartha, Finghin Collins, Robert Kulek, Peter Frankl, Aleksandar Madzar and György Sebök, conductors Janos Fürst and Gerhard Markson, wind instrumentalists Reto Bieri and Kaspar Zehnder, soprano Rachel Harnisch, and the actor Hanns Zischler. Pianist Simon Bucher has performed regularly with her since 1997.

Masin has premiered works from Raymond Deane, Urs Peter Schneider, Eric Sweeney, Martijn Voorvelt and John Buckley. Buckley's Violin Concerto was premiered by Masin on 21 September 2013 in Savannah, Georgia's Lucas Theater with the Savannah Philharmonic conducted by Peter Shannon. It received its European premiere in the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland, on 3 February 2015 with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted by Gavin Maloney. Don Li has specifically composed for her, both solo pieces and film music, releasing the works on Tonus-Music Records.

Masin established the international, multidisciplinary series In Search of Lost Time in 2004, continuing it in 2010 with a commissioned work inspired by Paul Klee's writings, composed by Thorsten Encke. Festival appearances include the West Cork Chamber Music Festival (Ireland), Prussia Cove (UK), and International Kamermuziekfestival Schiermonnikoog (Netherlands). In 2006, she founded the annual GAIA Music Festival. In 2007 she was appointed Carrick Water Music Festival's artistic director, a post she held for 3 years.

As of 2019, she curates a series called Cocktail für die Musen for Casino Bern, Switzerland.

In 2020, Masin created The Exhale, a retreat for musicians, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to move the project online. Many of the events take place for free or are based on donations, the income of which goes to artists suffering unemployment during the pandemic.

Masin practices yoga, which she used as the basis for a series of articles for The Strad in 2018, 2020 and 2021. In these she described ways for musicians to better understand movement in order to move more efficiently and inform artistic intention.

Masin has given violin and chamber music masterclasses throughout Europe, North America, and East Asia. She holds a Ph.D. from Trinity College where she has completed a doctoral thesis examining the similarities and differences of 20th-century violin pedagogy. Her book on violin teaching Michaela’s Music House, The Magic of the Violin, was published in 2009 by Müller & Schade in English, and German in 2018. At the time of publication, she was the youngest female accredited with her own violin method. Masin holds a teaching position for violin studies at Haute école de musique de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland since September 2013.

Awards and recognitions

Masin has won national and international prizes and awards in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands. As the Dutch representative at the Global Stipends Awards, she received the International Music Award. She was nominated for The Outstanding Young Persons of Switzerland award for her achievements.

Instrument

Masin plays a Lorenzo Carcassi violin which has been in her family for more than 50 years.

Personal life

Masin has lived in the Netherlands, South Africa, Hungary, and Ireland. She currently lives in Switzerland with her husband and child.

Discography

• 15 Squared (with Don Li)
• GAIA Music Festival 2009 (2009)
• GAIA Music Festival 2013 (2013)
• Eugène Ysaÿe: "Ballade" from the Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor (2016)
• Origin (2016)
• ZuekunftsNostalgie (with Oli Kehrli) (2016)
• GAIA Music Festival 2016 (2016)
• GAIA Music Festival 2017 (2017)
• Flame (2017)
• Trois (2018)
• GAIA Music Festival 2018 (2018)
• GAIA Music Festival 2019 (2019)
• West Side Story (2020)

Bibliography

• Michaelas Musikhaus, Der Zauber der Geige 1, Lektionen 1-7 (Müller & Schade, 2018) ISBN 978-3-905760-12-5 Search this book on ., ISMN M-50023-553-8;
• Michaelas Musikhaus, Der Zauber der Geige 1, Lektionen 8-16 (Müller & Schade, 2018) ISBN 978-3-905760-13-2 Search this book on ., ISMN M-50023-578-1;
• Michaelas Musikhaus, Der Zauber der Geige 1, Lektionen 17-24 (Müller & Schade, 2018) ISBN 978-3-905760-14-9 Search this book on ., ISMN M-50023-579-8;
• Michaelas Musikhaus, Der Zauber der Geige - Begleitheft mit 16-seitiger Klavierbeilage (Müller & Schade, 2018) ISMN M-50023-811-9;
• Michaela's Music House, The Magic of the violin (Müller & Schade, 2009) ISBN 978-3-905760-04-0 Search this book on ., ISMN M-50023-448-7;
• Violin Teaching in the New Millennium: In Search of the Lost Instructions of Great Masters - an Examination of Similarities and Differences Between Schools of Playing and How These Have Evolved, or Remembering the Future of Violin Performance (Trinity College Dublin, 2012) Abstract

Further reading

• Lüthi, B. “The Approach.” Michaela’s Music House, The Magic of the Violin – July 2009

References

Articles

• "Playing the violin places constant strain on the body, yet we leave posture to chance" – The Strad, NL, 2 March 2018
• "A Kodály-módszer az egész világon beválik" – Népszava Online, HU, February 2018
• "Gwendolyn Masin: Flame – Review" – Gramophone Magazine, UK, 31 January 2018
• "Örömzene a Cziffra Fesztivál nyitókoncertjén" – Gramofon Magazin, HU, 28 February 2018
• "Megtanultam, hogy csak a zene fontos" – Papageno Magazin, HU, 7 December 2017
• "Mit einer Flamme im Herzen" – Berner Zeitung, CH, 2 November 2017
• "Gwendolyn Masin, Origin – Exploring Roots and Identity" – The Journal of Music, IE, 10 July 2017
• "European Strings Teachers Association Book Review" – ESTA Magazine, UK, Issue No. 3, 17 June 2010
• "Michaela's Music House" – Schott Musik Paedagogik Online, February 2010
• „Michaela's Music House" – The Irish Times, Music in the Classroom, 17 November 2009
• "Gwendolyn adds yet another string to her bow" – Irish Independent, 1 November 2009
• „A Question of Culture" – Irish Independent, 10 October 2009
• "The Art of Making Music Fun" – The Irish Times, 29 July 2009
• „ARCO Book Review" – ARCO Magazine, Edition 3, 2009
• "Peeling the Parameters of the Grand Delusion" – The Irish Times, 25 September 2004
• "Das Ausnahmetalent" – Berner Zeitung, 23 March 2002
• All articles by Masin for The Strad

External links

• Official website
• Gwendolyn Masin YouTube channel

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