Get ready for the next auditions!

By Emilia Campagna - December 1, 2023

Theresia is organising new auditions that will take place in Paris on January 19 and 20 and will focus on string instruments, with conductor Giovanni Antonini joining the examining board.
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New year, new opportunities!

Theresia has launched a new set of auditions that will take place in Paris on January 19 and 20 and will be dedicated to string instruments: we are particularly looking for violin, viola and double bass players to join our orchestra for the period between March 2024 and September 2025.

As a youth orchestra, we are always on the lookout for talented young musicians who we can offer the chance to gain real professional experience in a classical orchestra that plays according to historical practice. For the second time round, auditions will be held in Paris thanks to the partnership with the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt, which is both a prestigious and convenient location from a logistical point of view. The deadline for the submission of applications is Thursday 14 December 2023.

An exciting addition to this round of auditions is the presence among the examiners of conductor Giovanni Antonini, one of the most highly regarded conductors on the international scene. Antonini conducted Theresia for the first time in this year’s initial residency as the start of a new partnership. Thanks to his confidence in our project, four of our musicians recently joined Il Giardino Armonico on a European tour.

Download the full audition guidelines here

Who can apply?

First of all, you have to meet some mandatory requirements: you need to be born after 1 January 1996 (we are a youth orchestra, folks!), and be a citizen of one of the Countries of the European Union or of the European Economic Area. Non-EU citizens can apply if they have a residence permit for study in one of the Countries of the European Union. As a HIP orchestra, we require in-depth knowledge of performance practice on authentic instruments, the use of a classic bow and a period instrument (or a copy).

How to apply?

Simply fill out the application form and send it along with a video of a live performance: due to the high number of expected applications, the Board of Examiners might make a pre-selection on the basis of the CV and the video recording. Only a limited number of musicians will be invited to the audition sessions in Boulogne-Billancourt.

What to expect during the auditions…

These are not the classic “make it or break it” auditions: in recent years we have perfected a method that allows us to get to know the candidates not only through solo performances, but also to test their ability to work with colleagues through ensemble rehearsals: the auditions will be held as chamber music workshops under the supervision of the Board of Examiners; as a consequence, candidates are required to attend the entire event. We also try to understand motivation and attitude towards teamwork through an interview.

…and what to expect after.

Selected musicians will become part of Theresia: they will receive a grant of 3500 euros to take part in five orchestral or chamber music projects during the period March 2024 – September 2025. This means participating in in the scheduled concerts and recording activities, but also in the learning and artistic activities of the Theresia Academy, including capacity building sessions, soft skills development, and co-creation workshops.

Those who won’t get selected may still have a second opportunity: a candidate may qualify for the Theresia Orchestra talent pool reserve list without receiving one of the full scholarships, if the jury evaluates him/her positively after the audition. The qualified candidates will be placed on a reserve list of musicians who may receive a scholarship for their instrument in the event a grantee drops out or withdraws. In addition, eligible musicians will be added to a list of candidates who may receive invitations to join Theresia for specific productions. They will also have the opportunity to participate in online activities related to Theresia Orchestra’s learning cycle, including musicological webinars and other educational activities designed for young professional musicians.

Download the full audition guidelines here

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Meet Theresia: Pantea Moshfegh

By Emilia Campagna - May 17, 2019

Meet violinist Pantea Moshfegh, a period instrument enthusiast and one of the newest member of Theresia: "It's a very pleasant feeling to make music with so many great musicians who have the same passion for music."
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Let’s continue to getting to know musicians who have joined Theresia recently: today we have asked violinist Pantea Moshfegh, 27 years old, from Iran, to tell us something about her experience.

Pantea, where are you actually studying or working?

I came to Graz, Austria 8 years ago and started my bachelor at the university of music and performing arts in the field of modern violin. During my master I started baroque violin parallelly. After a while I was quite drawn to it and decided to take the entrance exam and start studying baroque violin. Now I’m studying baroque violin with Susanne Scholz in Graz and am also working as violin teacher and freelance musician.

Have you quit the modern one?

Not at all, I still play modern violin, mostly in orchestra and for teaching. In general, I love the music and playing violin, from any period! But what I like the most about baroque violin is the loyalty to music and historical performance practice which one can’t find easily in modern violin playing, studying or performing …

It’s very nice to get to know so many people from my age who chose the same path and have the same enthusiasm in historical performance practice studies.

When did your passion for the period instrument start?

The first time I heard/saw an early music Ensemble was on the TV channel Mezzo, I was about 16 years old. It was Jordi Savall Ensemble. I remember how fascinated I was. At that time I knew nothing about early music but after a while of reading and searching, it turned to one of my dearest passions… When I came to Graz I never thought I would choose it as my main activity and subject in music but my experience with modern violin and studying it changed my perspective completely. It’s been 2 years since I changed my direction and I couldn’t be happier.

How have you known about Theresia?

I heard about the orchestra from my colleagues in Graz who already played with Theresia Orchestra. I heard that there’s an audition soon and I thought it would be an interesting experience.

How has the experience gone so far?

Really nice, I’m very happy with the repertoire we have been playing. It’s a very pleasant feeling to make music with so many great musicians who have the same passion for music. I also appreciate working with Alfredo Bernandini very much. He has amazing ideas and express them so well that it comes naturally to us.
Beside, it’s very nice to get to know so many people from my age who chose the same path and have the same enthusiasm in historical performance practice studies. I’ve been mostly in Graz, where we have an amazing early music department, but I find it very important to meet people from other countries, exchange ideas and learn from each other.

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? Do you think you’d rather be a soloist, have your own chamber ensemble or play in an orchestra?

“It’s a really difficult question. In general, I love performing – solo, in orchestra or small ensembles… And I’d be also very interested in researching and teaching. But I think I’d like mostly playing in a small ensemble, somewhere where one can share ideas and learn from other people. In Graz, I experienced this with the Violin Consort Ensemble which we founded with three of my colleagues. We play mostly music from the early baroque period. I think it’s very rewarding to play in a small ensemble because it helps you to discover and shape your own voice and taste in music.”

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Studio e ricerca, per crescere con Theresia

By Emilia Campagna - May 3, 2016

Studiare per diventare degli ottimi musicisti? Non è solo questione di pratica sullo strumento ma anche di ricerca musicologica, e il nostro direttore Alfredo Bernarini lo dice chiaramente: “Ovviamente bisogna essere preparati tecnicamente e strumentalmente. Ma non basta. Bisogna conoscere il repertorio, la biografia dei compositori, il contesto in cui operarono: lo studio della storia della musica è la bandiera di tutta la musica antica, anche perché solo conoscendo i compositori cosidetti ‘minori’ si comprende pienamente come eseguire i ‘grandi’.”

E’ pienamente su questa linea il direttore artistico di Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra, Mario Martinoli: e il workshop di quattro giorni, che quest’anno trasforma le tradizionali audizioni in un momento di alta formazione, comprende infatti, accanto alle prove in orchestra e gruppi da camera con i tre direttori principali dell’orchestra, anche tre seminari musicologici affidati a ricercatori che operano in alcune delle maggiori istituzioni universitarie d’Europa.

La formula non è del tutto nuova a Theresia, che nell’ambito del Kraus Tour dell’agosto 2014 aveva ospitato per un approfondimento musicologico Bertil van Boer, autore del catalogo generale di Joseph Martin Kraus e massimo conoscitore del compositore svedese; e il recente tour con Chiara Banchini ha compreso anche seminari con esperti nella costruzione di strumenti e archi secondo la pratica settecentesca.

In occasione del workshop a Venezia, Theresia ha potuto avvalersi della preziosa collaborazione dell’Istituto per la Musica (parte della Fondazione Giorgio Cini) e del suo direttore Gianmario Borio, che ha individuato i tre relatori che interverranno con altrettanti seminari sulla musica del secondo Settecento, ovvero il repertorio caro a TYBO.

La prima giornata vedrà l’intervento di Christine Siegert, docente alla Beethoven Haus di Bonn, con un seminario dal titolo estremamente accattivante, “Beethoven’s symphonies as chamber music”, tema (le Sinfonie di Beethoven come musica da camera) in cui subito ricerca e performance si incontrano.

Nella seconda giornata Marco Mangani (Professore all’Università di Ferrara) entrerà nel dettaglio della scrittura sinfonica settecentesca con “The symphonic cycle of movements in German and Austrian music, and the question of menuet”: Magnani esplorerà le origini dello schema a quattro movimenti della sinfonia haydniana, la sua cristallizazione come struttura dello stile classico viennese e le ragioni dell’inserimento del minuetto entro il precedente schema italiano di tre movimenti.

Infine, Gabriele Rossi Rognoni (Professore al Royal College of Music di Londra) terrà una lezione dal titolo “From Pre-Classical to Classical orchestra in German countries: an organological perspective”, un tema complesso ed estremamente interessante per definire di cosa si parla quando si parla di orchestra ‘classica’: “La definizione di orchestra ‘classica'” spiega Rossi Rognoni, “si riferisce in genere a un periodo compreso tra il 1740 e il 1815 circa, quando si ritiene che questo ensemble strumentale abbia raggiunto un alto livello di standardizzazione per quanto riguarda l’organico, il tipo di strumenti e la pratica esecutiva. In ogni caso, studi più recenti dimostrano che anche entro questo periodo le orchestre erano molto diverse a seconda non solo dei paesi, ma anche delle città e perfino delle istituzioni, riflettendo contesti economici e sociali, disponibilità degli strumenti o dei musicisiti, così che ogni tentativo di definire una tipica orchestra ‘haydiniana’ o ‘mozartiana’ è altamente discutibile.”

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Who’s afraid of audition?

By Emilia Campagna - February 19, 2016

Bogey to some, foolproof method to others: are auditions the best way to hire in orchestra?
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A stage, a bunch of people listening to you, and ten minutes to show how much you worth: it’s the classic audition, a “make-or-break” occasion when if you do a mistake you can’t fix it. Bogey to some, foolproof method to others: in many cases a “depersonalized” test, with the musician hidden by a curtain: it happens in symphony orchestras auditions in which they try to ward off the risk of likes and recommendations giving to every candidates the “privilege” of anonymity.

As Los Angeles Times writes, the way to select musicians for orchestral job has been changing over time: there “were the heady days when the term “maestro” conferred dictator status, when the likes of George Szell and Arturo Toscanini reigned.” At that time, “to gain entry to a major classical orchestra — say, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony — used to depend mostly on pleasing the music director.”

Then, more relaxed manners came: in the early ’70s, as says David Taylor, assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, “a player then was chosen first and foremost for his artistry, his quality of musicianship — even if he dropped a note here or there.” Furthermore, according to L.A. Times, “less critical atmosphere was also a boon to career musicians who could, according to L.A. Philharmonic principal bass Dennis Trembly, ‘simply be invited to the music director’s hotel room, perform a piece of music and get a handshake.’”

In late ’70s “the process tightened because unions exercised great scrutiny and orchestras needed to show objectivity in their choices to avoid litigation.” All big symphonic orchestras have protocols, procedures, selection committees and sub-committees, with many rounds to pass until a job offer. So, the more orchestras try to be fair, the more complex and rule-bound it gets. After all, it is also a matter of numbers: how they can evaluate hundreds of candidates without auditions? However, some cultural values still differentiate European from American orchestras. Carrie Dennis, currently principal violist of the L.A. Philharmonic, says auditioning for Berliner was “pretty civilized. You don’t play this or that snippet. If you get to the second round you play a concerto — on the stage, in a hall, with all musicians in the audience.”

And what about baroque orchestras world? As often happens, small is better. As Alfredo Bernardini told us in his interview, is quite common in early music ensembles testing a candidate in some concerts before offering him a job. And Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra? We have been recruiting in the classic manner for three years, but this year our Artistic Director Mario Martinoli decided “to change and to set hearings as a training opportunity more than the classic make it or brake it moment. Candidates will work for three days with the three principal TYBO’s conductors: they will rehearsal in chamber groups and in orchestra, with a double benefit: for us, the possibility to know their attitude to team work besides their technical ability; for them, the occasion to meet and work with three great Maestros such as Claudio Astronio, Alfredo Bernardini and Chiara Banchini. Furthermore, we are planning some seminar with renowned musicologists thank to the collaboration of Fondazione Cini.”.

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New violin auditions

By theresia - January 6, 2015

The Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra (TYBO) organises a series of auditions to recruit young musicians for the orchestra in preparation of the 2015-2016 productions, concerts and stages. AVAILABILITY The Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra (TYBO) requires availability for the following remunerated stage & concert periods: a) 4-10 May 2015, stage & concerts in Italy, Claudio Astronio […]
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The Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra (TYBO) organises a series of auditions to recruit young musicians for the orchestra in preparation of the 2015-2016 productions, concerts and stages.

AVAILABILITY
The Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra (TYBO) requires availability for the following remunerated stage & concert periods:
a) 4-10 May 2015, stage & concerts in Italy, Claudio Astronio conducting
b) 15-25 August 2015, stage & concerts in Italy, Chiara Banchini conducting

Further availability for late October 2015 and mid-March 2016 can be required at the auditions.

VENUE AND SCHEDULE
The audition will be held in Milan, Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado – Fondazione Milano, Villa Simonetta (Via Stilicone, 36) on Thursday 29 January 2015. Detailed information on venue and performance timing will be notified to all participants in due time.

INSTRUMENTS
The audition is open to the following classical instruments: VIOLIN

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The audition is open to professional musicians (including advanced students) born after 1st January 1986.

In-depth knowledge of performance praxis on authentic instruments is a mandatory requirement.

The use of copies of authentic instruments (classical era) is a mandatory requirement.

APPLICATION & DEADLINE
Participants must send an email to auditions@theresia-project.eu containing:
– name
– surname
– date and place of birth
– nationality
– physical address
– email address
– phone number
– detailed CV
– scanned copy of passport or identity card
To be sent not later than Saturday 24 January 2015.

SELECTION COMMITTEE
Claudio Astronio, Permanent Musical Director of TYBO.
Esther Crazzolara, TYBO Concertmeister.
Antonio Frigé, Early Music Coordinator, Civica Scuola di Musica, Milan.
Mario Martinoli, Founder and Artistic Director of TYBO.

SCORES
The candidates are warmly invited to bring with them the scores of the audition program.

Orchestral passages will be played by the candidates a solo, without accompanying instruments.

ADMISSION RULES
A maximum number of 15 musicians will be admitted to the auditions. In case of the reception of more than 15 applications, the 15 youngest musicians will be admitted to the auditions.

INFORMATION
For any query or additional information on the auditions and Theresia, please send an email to auditions@theresia-project.eu

PROGRAM OF THE AUDITION

VIOLIN (3 positions available)

1) Two movements at choice and contrasting in character from a sonata by a baroque master (A=430 Hz or A=415 Hz at the choice of the candidate)
2) Two movements at choice and contrasting in character from a sonata by a classical master (A=430 Hz)
3) W.A. Mozart, Symphony n. 35 in D major K 535 “Haffner”, 1st and 4th movements (A=430 Hz)
4) Sight reading

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