Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting

Every other year, Rundfunkchor Berlin offers the Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting to support the training of choral conductors at conservatories and universities. The students are exposed to the essential skills for professional choral work and given the opportunity at the beginning of their careers to gain practical experience with a world-class ensemble.

Since 2010, the Rundfunkchor Berlin has been inviting young choral conductors from all over the world to a one-week masterclass in Berlin. Eight master students study challenging choral literature and present the results of their work in a public final concert.

The Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting is led by Simon Halsey, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin.

The first day of the course is reserved for individual lessons, the following days are devoted to working with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. During the sessions, the young conductors communicate at eye level with the singers of the ensemble, the master teachers and the non-conducting students, who join in on Friday.

The masterclass is aimed at young conductors (up to the age of 35) who are in the final years of their studies, have already graduated or actually begun their careers. The masterclass presents a real chance to enter the professional field: several participants of previous masterclasses have already assisted in rehearsals with Rundfunkchor Berlin.

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Young choral conductors are introduced to all aspects of professional choral work. During the Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting, you learn:

• how to learn a score thoroughly and prepare most efficiently for rehearsals
• what they can expect from the singers
• what the singers will expect from them
• which skills are required for ideal collaboration with orchestral conductors and managers

From 14 to 19 November 2023, Rundfunkchor Berlin is hosting the sixth Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting. Highly qualified young choral conductors are invited to work with master teacher Simon Halsey, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin. For one day they will meet individually, then for four days together with Rundfunkchor Berlin. The results will be presented in the final concert on 19 November at St. Elisabeth’s Church in central Berlin.

Eight master students are selected for active work from the list of applicants.

During the first day, the focus lies on the preparation and stocktaking of the selected active master students. The active master students have prepared the entire masterclass repertoire well. This will be acquired at the piano under the direction of the master teacher.

The public masterclasses with Rundfunkchor Berlin take place over the following four days. As of Friday 17 November 2023, the active master students are joined by the non-conducting master students, who offer them constructive feedback, for example, how to translate ideas and actions into musical and sung form.

Each day ends with a round of feedback. In this session, with the active and non-conducting master students on an equal footing with the master teacher the day’s acquired knowledge and experiences are discussed, elucidated and analyzed.

On the last day, the public final concert takes place at St. Elisabeth’s Church in central Berlin. The active master students each conduct a work from the Berlin International Masterclass repertoire.

All active and non-conducting master students receive a certificate of participation in the Berlin International Masterclass for Choral Conducting.

Course languages

German and English

Travel and accomodation

All master students are responsible for arranging their own travel and accomodation. Please let us know if there are difficulties in financing your stay. We will then examine possible funding opportunities.