Last Thursday, October 20, Anne-Sophie Mutter, one of the greatest violinists of today, gave a masterclass at the Conservatori Liceu Foundation’s Superior Center, inaugurating the Liceu Cambra Masterclasses & Concerts series for the 2022-2023 season.
The Masterclass was based on the interpretation of several pieces by three students of the Conservatori to whom Mutter gave her comments and advice. The active participating students were Sergio García, Dai Mar López and Emma Ortega, all three Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation scholarship holders. The meeting ended with a question and answer session where the great German violinist answered questions raised by the students, offering inspiring advice and sharing her memories of the teachings received from legendary masters such as Karajan, Rostropovich or Szering. The Auditori del Conservatori Liceu was filled with an enthusiastic audience of students and teachers of the Conservatori Liceu, but also with alumni and numerous guests from other higher and professional schools in Catalonia. The audience was able to enjoy an exceptional musical event, thanks to the musical and artistic wisdom of the professor, and had the privilege of also being able to listen to Anne Sophie Mutter playing her instrument. At the end of the master class, Anne-Sophie signed the Conservatori Liceu’s Book of Honor.
The violinist has been present for more than 40 years in major concert halls around the world, standing out on the international classical music scene as one of the greatest performers of our time and a true all-round artist, whose concerns go far beyond technique and violin repertoire.
Four-time Grammy Award winner, her programs include both traditional repertoire and New Music, with premieres by contemporary composers such as Thomas Adès, Unsuk Chin, Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutoslawski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, André Previn, Wolfgang Rihm and John Williams, among others.
Anne-Sophie Mutter has received numerous awards and decorations. She has been awarded the German Grand Order of Merit, the Medal of the French Legion of Honor, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Decoration of Honor for Services rendered in the Republic of Austria, the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the French Legion of Honor, among many other distinctions. She was awarded the Siemens Prize in 2008 and in 2022 she received an Honorary Doctorate from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy in Krakow.
This great violinist is also strongly committed to numerous charitable projects. She is the driving force behind the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation e.V. These two charities provide support for scholarship recipients, support that is tailored to their individual needs. The board of trustees of the German cancer charity Deutsche Krebshilfe elected her as the new chairwoman of the non-profit organization in 2021. Since January 2022, she has been on the board of the Lucerne Festival Foundation. Since 2011, Anne-Sophie Mutter has regularly shared the limelight on stage with her ensemble of scholarship holders, the Mutter’s Virtuosi.
The Liceu Cambra Masterclasses & Concerts cycle is a unique initiative in our environment that combines a concert program of great interest with one of the richest Masterclasses offerings in our country. Over the last few years this series has turned the Liceu Superior Center into a reference meeting point for music students, audiences and the great international masters of classical and contemporary music. The Liceu Cambra is sponsored by the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation. We will soon announce the complete Liceu Cambra program for the 2022-2023 season.