Benedetti Foundation online sessions for instrumentalists return
Harriet Clifford
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
The Virtual Sessions in February for all ages and abilities will focus on the physicality and psychology of playing.
Sara Platt
The Benedetti Foundation has announced its first Virtual Sessions for 2022, taking place from 12 to 18 February.
‘Building Foundations: Exploring the Physicality and Psychology of Playing’ is open to players of all ages and abilities, and will include live online sessions from guest artists including founder and director Nicola Benedetti and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
Other musicians taking part include violinists Alina Ibragimova and Elena Urioste, violists Richard O’Neill and Juan-Miguel Hernandez, and cellists Leonard Elschenbroich and Laura van der Heijden.
The Foundation is not charging a set fee for participation, but is encouraging donations of around £10-£15.
Nicola Benedetti said: ‘We strongly believe in addressing our foundations, within which we advocate for individuality and creativity. There is no one way to play, one way to make music, one interpretation, or one methodology or pedagogy. We hope these sessions will deepen this dialogue, and we will all learn something from the experience.’
What will the Benedetti Foundation Virtual Sessions include?
On 12 February, the live tutorials will focus on the fundamental principles of playing string instruments, with sessions for different abilities taking place at intervals over the course of the day.
On 13 February, violinist, yogi, and co-founder of Intermission, Melissa White, will deliver three sessions targeted at different age groups on wellbeing for musicians. These are aimed at all instrumentalists.
A live panel discussion on Zoom hosted by Nicola Benedetti will also take place on 13 February, featuring several of the guest musicians.
From 14 to 18 February, daily challenge videos will be released online for all ages and instruments, focusing on the fundamental principles of developing technique. These aim to encourage participants to explore mindset, creativity, freedom, sound, coordination, comfort, posture, memory, listening, intonation, and playing technique.
Anyone interested in taking part should register here.
