This 5-day Voice Masterclass is designed to prepare professional singers and singers with professional ambitions to succeed on opera and concert stages. Participants will be given individual lessons with renowned vocal teacher, soprano, accompanist and casting director Medea Iassonidi. With over 40 years of experience in major opera houses, Medea shares her invaluable insight into interpretation, performance and vocal technique. Participants will be able to work on any selected opera arias, role or other kind of classical repertoire by their choic (lied, oratorio, operetta, etc.). This years masterclass will be joined by superb piano accompanist Marina Reznikova music who will offer daily correpetitions.
Each singer receives two one hour individual lessons per day. The course will conclude with a final concert in the stunning baroque hall of Saint Peter and Paul Minorite Monastery in Ptuj.
We kindly ask you to fill out the application form on this site OR write directly to the email medea_iassonidi@hotmail.com
Please include links to two singing recordings in different languages.
Participants are entitled to two individual lessons per day – overall 10 lessons. Everyday they will receive one vocal lesson with our vocal teacher Medea Iassonidi and one with piano accompanist Marina Reznikova. Each lesson will last between 50-60 minutes.
There will be practice rooms with pianos available.
Every active participant gets 10 individual lessons with accompainment- two each day of the course. 5 vocal lessons and 5 lessons with the accompanist. We encourage you to attend lessons also as a passive attandee.
Is free.
VARIATIO, društvo za ustvarjalnost
Ulica 5. prekomorske 14
SI-2250 PTUJ
Slovenija
ID DDV: 30546621
Matična št: 4126416000
IBAN: SI56 6100 0002 9166 210
Cancelation of the program or part of the program during the program.
The application fee (70 euro) is non refundable in case of cancelation. In case of the cancelation occurred after part of the lessons were made, the candidate will be entitled to return part of the tuition fee in the amount of non-used lessons counted by days (every day is worth 20% of the total tuition fee).
The organizers are responsible only for the return costs of tuition fees. Organizers are not responsible for other costs that may occur during this masterclass.
Masterclass will be hosted by Minorite monastery Ptuj. All active and pasive candidates are oblighted to respect general house rules of conduct from host – Minorite monastery.
The lessons can be held in English, Greek, Italian or Russian upon a specific student’s request.
Soprano, vocal teacher and casting director of Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, jury member of Russian TV show “Big Opera” began her musical career as a pianist, graduating from the Kiev Conservatory and then working for several years as an accompanist at the National Opera of Ukraine (Kiev). At the same time, she began to study singing with N.Tatarinova. From 1991 Ms.Iassonidi lived in Greece where working as an accompanist (Greek National Opera, Athens Megaron) she completed the formal course of vocal study at the Athens Conservatory with K. Morfoniu and with famous bariton K. Paschalis(opera studio). She participated in master classes with G. Vishnevskaja (Lubeck Hochschule Summer Academy), W. Lipp (Mozarteum University Summer Academy) and P. Montarsolo. For 13 years she had been working with Italian soprano Fiorella Carmen-Forti. She performed on stage the roles of Michaela in G. Bizet “Carmen”(Brno) , Mimi in G. Puccini “La Boheme”(Brno, Athens) , Maddalena di Coigny in U.Giordano “Andrea Chenier”(Brno, Prague, Karlsruhe) Lisa in V. Bellini “La Sonnambula”(Athens Megaron) Aida in G. Verdi”Aida”(Donetsk; Czech republic), Leonora in G. Verdi “Il Trovatore”(Opera festival in Zvolen, Slovakia) Tosca in G. Puccini”Tosca”(Novosibirsk). She appeared at Carnegie Hall of New York as Chrisothemis in M. Theodorakis opera “ Electra” in 2000. In October 2007 she participated in a concert-theatrical performance (stage director C.Serebrennikov) of Carl Orff’s “De Temporum Fine Comoedia” (first performance in Russia) in Moscow under the direction of Theodor Currentzis. 2011-2014-Medea Iassonidi was an assistant of artistic director Teodor Currentzis in Perm opera and ballet theatre in Russia. 2017-2023 she was a casting director at Perm opera house. She collaborated as a accompanist and coach with SNG (Maribor Opera in Slovenija) for two years.
The singers under her teaching make careers on big opera stages: Nadine Koutcher, soprano – Grand Prix of Cardiff Singing Competition (then Violetta under the guidance of maestro Barenboim, etc); Zarina Abaeva, soprano appearances in Baden-Baden festival (conducted by Teo Currentzis in “La Boheme” and Requiem G. Verdi), recently in Florence as Desdemona with maestro Zubin Mehta; Bologna (Teatro Comunale) as Cio-Cio San with maestro D. Oren; Nadezhda Pavlova-Salzburg festival (Donna Anna in ”Don Giovanni”-stage director R. Castellucci and maestro T. Currentzis), Hamburg opera (“Rigoletto”,” Don Giovanni”, “Ariadne auf Naxos), Zurich, Helsinki-“Traviata”, Munchen-Konstanze in Mozart “The Abduction from Serail”.
Among the singers she worked with are: tenors Iwan Gyngazov, Boris Rudak; baritons Enchbat Tuvshinzhargal, Fernando Araujo; mezzo-soprano Natalia Lyaskova; soprano Ekaterina Protsenko.
Medea Iassonidi, soprano, pianist and vocal teacher with 40 years of experience in opera theaters (Kiev, Athens, Maribor, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk) is a promoter of the Old Italian School of Singing. All this thanks to her teachers: first – Natalia Veniaminovna in Kiev and second Fiorella Carmen-Forti in Athens (Italian soprano, pupil of R. Stracciari and M. Polverosi), who sang with the Greats like Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Giuseppe di Stefano and G. Aragall. Participants of this Masterclass will learn key terms in praxis such as: “il colpo di gola”, “succhiato”, “flusso vocale”, “la tecnica del singhiozzo”, “la tecnica del sorriso”, “vertical singing,” “colonna vocale”, “il canto sul laringe” and what the low larynx position actually means. They will learn what role have the muscles of the underbelly, solar plexus and neck muscles to play during the singing and what does it mean to breath mostly with the back side of the diaphragm.
Marina Reznikova is a Professor of the Department of solo singing at the Novosibirsk Conservatory. Graduated from the piano department of the Kyiv Conservatory and completed an assistant program in chamber singing, multiple laureates of international competitions and diplomas “Best accompanist” of Elena Obraztsova and Alibek Dnishev competition. Since 1999 she has taught chamber singing at the Novosibirsk Conservatory. Is the author of publications and scientific papers on the specifics and feature of a vocalist’s work on a style and artistic principles of chamber vocal music. She leads an active concert activity with soloists of the Novosibirsk Opera in Russia and abroad (Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Czech Republic, Greece).
The masterclass will be held in the tranquil 13th century built Minorit monastery of St. Peter of Paul. It will offer practice rooms and a big hall for the participants and coaches to reharse in. The monastery is located in the center of Ptuj within walking distance of the accomodations and attractions.
