Masterclass ICP01: Violin Technique & Repertoire*

Applications open to violinists only at this stage.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Classical violin technique & repertoire, professional development including professional coaching & mentoring.

This is an opportunity to further your ongoing professional technical and musical development, audition preparation, or rebuild your technique completely (this usually takes around 3 months). Includes exactly how to prepare and execute all bow strokes (detache, martele, legato, colle, spiccato, up-bow & down-bow staccato, ricochet, flying staccato), technical etudes/studies and concert repertoire, as well as correct preparation and practice for reliable left hand technique, intonation, shifting, vibrato, double-stops, harmonics and stop-harmonics, and raising your tone, phrasing, articulation, intensity, and projection to a soloistic level. Also problem solving for teaching including preparatory exercise systems, and analytic insights for fixing faulty technique

Pre-requisite:N/A

Contact: To find out more please contact +61 0413 265 831 or click here to email
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Artists Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP02: Orchestra Audition Preparation & Coaching*

Applications open to violinists only at this stage.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: This course offers expert tuition on an overview and detailed preparation of the most common audition orchestral excerpts. It includes an understanding of what is being looked for from an orchestral audition panel perspective in the excerpts, as well as the classical and romantic period concertos and unaccompanied Bach suits as audition pieces. It offers tips and coaching in how to practice efficiently in preparing materials when time is at a premium, as well as performance coaching, and includes approaches to healing stage-fright to maximise conducive experiences at auditions and ways to really enjoy the whole process.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP03: Chamber Music & Ensemble Coaching*

Application by ensemble only.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Meaningful chamber music and ensemble playing is dependent on our ability to feel and listen while we play - to our own instrument, and to other instruments in the ensemble, all working together as a whole. It is also crucial to understand the intention and emotion of the music the composer was intending to achieve. As much, hearing which are the important ensemble lines at play in the score at any moment, as well as having a requisite understanding of the composer’s overall music, markings, period, style and accordingly the techniques of expressive playing in use pertinent to that work. All of this sits in the context of playing our parts, within of the score as sound, with a full-body awareness. This is a supportive and informative course for any player regardless of experience, in really understanding ensemble music making. Its scope includes from the important instrument relationships in creating texture, harmony and phrasing, to the movement in music as rhythm and melody, and as importantly learning to participate and enjoy making quality chamber music.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP04: Making Contemporary Classical Music Through Improvisation*

No previous improvisation experience necessary

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions.

Description: This is a new breakthrough method of classical music improvisation, which allows classical musicians to create mature, coherent improvised music as a legitimate part of their concert platform repertoire. It utilises all the wonderful classical training and experience which classical players already have. By learning a few extra practical insights into the four basic parameters which are at the heart of all music over all the ages, it allows classical players to use all their classical training, experience, sensitivity, and nuance in their own concert improvisations, right from the start. So no need to go back to being a beginner, no need to spend years learning the complicated theory of jazz before you can improvise!

This method allows classical musicians to improvise freely with great depth and meaning, creating their own works and even entire concert programs, giving wings to their own feelings, imagination and life experience, in much the same way that a painter creates pictures onto a blank canvas. It forms a profound basis for both music composition and interpretation, and additionally, adds energy and insight to every performer’s musicianship whether in improvisation or traditional repertoire. This systematic method is easily learned and is being acclaimed by professional musicians and university faculty worldwide. It can be taught, learned, performed and assessed to the same high standards which classical music has come to expect.

Successful courses have already been run over the last fifteen years at leading European conservatoriums, including the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, Vienna University for the Performing Arts (MDW) in Austria, the European String Teachers Association (ESTA) National Conference in Sweden, and at most major universities in Australia. Attendees have ranged from professional music teachers, university professors, players from La Scala Milan and Zurich Opera, and distinguished European classical concert artists.

Pre-requisite: Open to all soloists, professional classical players, teachers and advanced students who want to start contemporary classical music improvisation or accelerate their progress further. 

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP05: Non-Tonal Improvisation*

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Masterclass OR ongoing contact sessions

Description: A deep understanding and practical working knowledge of atonal improvisation for contemporary classical performance. Mastering the new spectrum of musical languages, textures, complexities and freedoms which this unique idiom brings. Presented in a systematic and comprehensible format to use right away. An essential toolbox for all contemporary performers. 

Pre-requisite: Masterclass ICP2

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP06: Improvisation - Diverse Musical Styles*

Individuals and existing ensemble applications invited.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: As well as a very useful introduction to the foundations of all music improvisation, this course shows how our improvisation can be enriched and deepened through understanding the basic features of a range of musical styles and influences. This course explores the practical aspects, scales, tonalities, playing techniques and touch which make up the fundamental sounds in the spectrum of music - from meditative Asian temple music influences, to blues, roots, folk, rock, gypsy, Celtic, jazz, African and South American flavours and beyond.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP07: Cross-Arts Improvisation* - Inter-disciplinary improvisation performance

Open to practitioners from music and all arts, science, technology, and humanities backgrounds.

No previous improvisation experience necessary.

Format: workshops or ongoing classes

Description: Inter-disciplinary improvisation performance is an exciting area of contemporary music, where music and the other arts intersect in new works which explore new frontiers. The resulting hybrid of sound, visuals, speech, text, technology & electronics is an ever expanding genre of creative expression appearing increasingly frequently on the programs at progressive arts festivals worldwide. The training, expertise, discipline, and imagination which this course draws on touch into the heart of traditional arts practice, and from there absorbs, questions, and incorporates everything - from the ancient to the avant-garde, from the intimate to the massive, from the primative to advanced technologies, from the formal stage to the most informal locations, where car parks can be as much a stage as concert halls. The approaches taught in these inter-disciplinary courses bring classical music training up to the front edge of the wave in the 21st century.

Pre-requisite: Advanced to professional proficiency in your chosen field

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP08: Ensemble Skills* - new textures, voicings and concept development for ensemble improvisation

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Masterclass OR ongoing contact sessions

Description: While improvisation can present marvellous new vistas, it also can bring challenges. One of these is ensemble continuity and coherence, and the sustainability of the ideas and emotion present in any work throughout its performance. This course brings an array of approaches to bringing feeling and listening to the centre of all your ensemble improvisation work, while maintaining the essence of the musical “story” of the improvisation in all voices of the ensemble. These keys set our graduates’ work apart from much improvised ensemble playing on the concert platform, and help us meet the number one criteria of excellence in improvisation - namely, that listening to the performance, one cannot discern whether the music is a seriously considered scored work or an improvised one.

Pre-requisite: Completion of Masterclass ICP2

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP09: Composition*

Composers and songwriters invited to apply.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: In this course you learn how to refine and shape the ideas in your songwriting to be true to your inspiration, and to craft the mood via the arrangement to reflect the real spirit of the story you want to share with your audience. You will explore a number of approaches which will add experience and depth for your musical palette regarding the metre, chords and changes for you to draw on. As importantly you will learn how, at will, to always be in the space where everything just flows (“in the zone”) for your writing, not leaving inspiration as a haphazard thing which sometimes happens. We will be examining some existing songs from history, but most importantly focusing on your own ideas and writing, so that you come away at the end of the course with your own inspired body of work.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP10: Contemporary Studio & Stage Techniques*

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Workshop OR ongoing weekly contact sessions

Description: This course gives a thorough grounding in the contemporary recording studio sessions and onstage live playing techniques of the industry, as well a practical working knowledge of what is required stylistically for professional playing in live string and orchestral on-stage sections.In addition it equips professional players with the practical expertise, insights and a general understanding of acoustic and electric instruments, which enables them to make wise choices with selecting, using and caring for their instruments in a contemporary context. Upon request this course can also be combined with the Masterclass ICP14 Electric Violin, Amps & FX course in using electric stringed instruments.

Pre-requisite: Advanced to professional level of playing proficiency

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP11: Music As Meditation & The Art of Mystical Improvisation*

Open to musicians and artists in all fields.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Learn how to sink into your music and go deep in your performance. Experience timeless knowing, endless inspirations and how to be “in the zone”, at will, all the time. Learn to experience sound, pitch, chords, scales, harmony and rhythm as personal feelings finding a way to express through you as music. There is so much more to music than playing - there is a space and flow which all the great artists have known. Learn to be at one with this way of effortless flow in music making and improvisation. This has been the way of the mystical poets, bards and minstrels throughout time.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP12: Extended Playing Techniques*

Applications only open to string instruments at this stage.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Learn the main extended playing techniques of the last 60 years as you delve into the concepts, music, performers and composers who brought these to the world. There are seemingly so many by now, however there are common themes which reduce most of them to some relatively simple basic principles. This course helps classical musicians catch up on the range of extended playing techniques, how they work, and how to apply them - and as importantly how to practice them efficiently. In addition to the hands-on work, this course includes interesting listening lists to familiarise and illustrate a broad range of styles of extended techniques.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP13: Soundscapes & Contemporary Playing Techniques* — exploring new dimensions of sound for improvisation in the 21st century

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Masterclass OR ongoing contact sessions

Description: This course focuses on developing and consolidating a new palette of tonal and experimental sounds on acoustic & amplified instruments for application in contemporary classical performance for classical players as original artists. Includes developing soundscapes, and intensive work in known as well as new contemporary playing techniques, and explores the expressive potential of the instrument from a wide and innovative sonic perspective. Dedicated to completely practical, useful skills for new repertoires for the concert platform for all professional musicians.

Pre-requisite: Masterclass ICP2

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP14: Electric Strings, Amps & FX*

Open to violin, viola, cello, and contra bass

Format: Workshop or ongoing sessions

Description: The complete how, why, and what of going electric for strings. Includes demonstration and practical instruction in every aspect of going electric:
• the different types of instruments and their professional uses,
• application and contexts of using FX,
• and a practical understanding of the full range of amps and PAs.

This is a thorough preparation for competency and creativity in using electric instruments and amplification in all the contexts facing the modern professional string player.

Every aspect is taught, from light acoustic sound reinforcement and the use of electronics, to rock bands and studio playing, high volume output, extended playing techniques and experimental soundscapes, and on-stage environments. As an adjunct to this, classes and training in improvisation and various musical performance contexts (both electric and acoustic) are available to maximise professional outcomes in the diversity of the contemporary classical musician's environment. Also available by appointment to school and university departments is expert consultation, contacts and guidance to purchase appropriate instruments and amplification if required.

Pre-requisite: Advanced to professional proficiency on your instrument is necessary.

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP15: Live Looping for Going Electric*

Applications from all instruments invited, providing they have electronic interface such as a pickup or microphone fitted and working. Must have a functioning looping pedal and all cables, power supply and necessary accessories.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Live looping is a whole genre of playing in itself. Keeping your ideas fresh, fluid and creative, yet also accurate, expressive and relaxed while looping is an art. This course shows you the essentials of live looping, and helps you explore, discover and develop your own sound and style. It also puts you through your paces so that your performances are as atmospheric and dynamic as a tight ensemble - which is what looping is for all intents is mirroring.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP16: Understanding Rhythm, Harmony, Chords & Melody*

Applications invited from all instruments including voice.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: The most rewarding experience of music is a full body response and source of every move, nuance and dynamic. Rhythm, harmony, chords and melody in this way is a life-changing doorway into real music making. Many top artists speak of being “in the zone”, feeling the groove, chords and melody as a 3-dimensional experience. This course keeps you grounded in this full bodied way with yourself and your music. This is a really special transition into a whole other level of feeling and playing music, and leads to profound shifts in expressive playing, listening ability, ensemble playing and maturity of musical interpretation.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Individual Sessions with Rupert Guenther or Tanya Servaas
(This can be done either on a casual basis, or in a serious focus with weekly self-work tasks, review and feedback).

 MENTORING

Mentoring is a valuable form of personal guidance, which passes on to the student all the benefits of one who has made significant real change and growth in their life, through hard won insights and realisations, and knows the journey into deepening self-acceptance, compassion, and psychological clarity. Working together in this way, mentoring is a way to profound personal growth and emotional healing, where the student has their own unique realisations and insights, and comes into their own understanding and wisdom for navigating the pitfalls and problems in life.

Sessions available in person, by phone, or Teams/Skype/Zoom.

Click here to enquire or book sessions

COACHING

Coaching is walking alongside the student, assisting them to find their own revelations and answers which are just right for them. It encourages, questions, reflects, and holds the individual to an agreed framework of accountability which is vital for real growth and change to occur. The coaching sessions become a starting point for the person's own internal processes of review and healthy change which they can take with them and naturally evolve throughout their life. It s the key to stopping making excuses which hold you back, and instead embracing real change and growth for yourself in all areas of your life, by discovering and following through on your own breakthroughs and solutions, and blossom into the greater being that you really have been all along but were lost to.

Sessions available in person, by phone, or Teams/Skype/Zoom.

Click here to enquire or book sessions

Masterclass ICP18: Relaxation and Meditation for Musicians & Music Teachers*

Format: Workshop or classes ongoing

Description: Learn relaxation and meditation for inner peace. Simple and effective approaches to self-nurture you can use throughout your day, as well as more traditional sit down meditation styles.Learn simple techniques for how to be really grounded and present, how to clear your energy field, and develop inner peace through practice, self acceptance and compassion. Techniques include breathing exercises, visualisation, body awareness & relaxation, and both active and quietude meditation styles. Emphasis is on creating wellbeing outcomes to suit each individual which are attainable and conducive to the high demands of professional life.

Pre-requisite:N/A

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
(Disclaimer: Rupert Guenther is not a medical doctor. Participants with a history of mental health issues are encouraged to consult their regular health professional before enrolling) 
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP19: Healing Stage Fright*

Open to ALL instruments including voice, percussion, piano, strings, brass, woodwind etc

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

Description: Stage-fright is a big issue for some people, and a significant issue for many. If you do get really nervous to the extent that you can’t express yourself or share and enjoy what you really love about music in your performances, this course will enable you to begin to heal your fears around performing, and regain your original inspiration for taking up music in the first place. You will learn practical on-the-spot approaches which will change your whole experience of playing in public, and dissolve the old patterns which caused you to feel anxiety instead of joy. Includes specific take-home techniques and practical tools for on-stage use in even the most demanding performances.

Pre-requisite: Open to all musicians (also available formats for public speakers, presenters and teachers doing presentations etc)

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd

Masterclass ICP20: The Keys To Creative Awesomeness*

Open to all instruments including voice.

Format: Masterclass or ongoing contact sessions

This workshop for all artists - musicians, visual artists, dancers, writers etc, and is to cultivate a real and tangible extra dimension to our music and art making. It is where our art moves into healing. For thousands of years certain individuals have made their art a conscious meditative process or journey, which takes their audience deep into a reflective space with self and the universe, a space which is wise, compassionate, of truth, and healing to experience.

We take you on a discovery of what your ideals might be for the world, what you would like to be part of changing, of developing and refining your own inner journey and its expression through your music or art into a positive and benevolent force in the world. We explore how nurturing approaches which are inclusive, compassionate and in a spirit of serving humanity lift your game. Includes some study of examples in history who have achieved these goals to understand how they did it, explore and discover your own pathway to these goals, mapping your course ahead, and much more.

You learn to consciously attune at will, and bring this greater dimensional aspect to create with us as an integral input in our art, instead of this aspect being left to chance as a haphazard fleeting moment of being “in the zone” sometimes.

Many of the great artists throughout time have described this experience of being more like a pencil in the hand of God or inspiration itself. Yet surprisingly few share the way to it, especially in our modern times of complacency, where we can conceitedly feel like we already know and understand everything in a reductive logic of the thinking mind.
In this workshop we learn to enter this way of flow and illumination through a feeling intuitive part of us which finds this ever-creative and inspirational part of self to be its natural habitat. Here, the inspirational tap is always in the “on” position. No more writers’ block. This is the real deal.


Pre-requisite: Acceptance for this course is by interview only.

To find out more about these masterclass courses email us or call Tanya on 0413 265 831.
* All concepts, text, course content, description, including the name Integrated Contemporary Performance are copyright © and remain the property of Sonum Solis Pty Ltd