The Verbier Festival is one of the most famous in the world of classical music and the most important annual musical event in Switzerland. It takes place in late July - early August in the mountain resort of Verbier and lasts about two weeks. The audience can see both novice musicians and recognized celebrities on it.
The history of the festival began in 1997, at the origins of its creation were many famous musicians, including Russian ones - Yuri Bashmet, Evgeny Kisin, Misha Maisky. They are its permanent participants even now. Also, Yuri Temirkanov, Rodion Shchedrin, Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev and many other famous musicians and composers come to the festival. Festival visitors have the opportunity to attend free of charge master classes conducted by experienced teachers for students of the Festival Academy.
The main attraction of the festival is its orchestra - Verbier Festival Orchestra. It consists of young talented performers who gather during the festival, rehearse together and study at the Academy with renowned masters, in order to later give several concerts as a single well-coordinated team. The orchestra has about a hundred musicians aged 17 to 29 years old, its composition is updated by half every year. It is not easy to get into the orchestra - in 2012, more than 800 people applied for places in it, 46 were included.
Nevertheless, every young talented musician has the opportunity to be in the orchestra. This is a rare chance to take part in master classes led by outstanding masters. Training is carried out in the following areas: piano, violin, viola, cello, chamber ensemble, vocals. Enrollment is carried out based on the results of the qualifying competition. To get a better idea of the level of performers, read the articles about the 2012 festival.
The selection competition for the 2013 festival has not started yet. But you can get acquainted with its main requirements and provisions on the example of the 2012 competition. Go to the festival website, to the page "Academy 2012". At the bottom of it, find the Apply link. Click on it, a drop-down list will appear. Select the required discipline in it and click with the mouse. In the new window, click on the Apply now link. You will see an application form that must be completed by the applicant to study at the Academy. The address for sending the completed document is indicated at the end of the document. Do not forget that this is just an example from 2012, so there is no need to fill in or send anything yet. Wait for the information on the Academy 2013 to appear on the festival website.
