{"id":639,"date":"2019-06-28T11:21:08","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T11:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/blog\/per-fulbright-an-die-mdw\/"},"modified":"2023-03-30T10:05:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T10:05:40","slug":"per-fulbright-an-die-mdw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/2019\/06\/28\/per-fulbright-an-die-mdw\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Fulbright at the mdw"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This has never been so true as for this soprano who freshly graduated from a US conservatory. My name is Theodora Nestorova, and I am studying on a Fulbright scholarship at Vienna\u2019s mdw (University of Music and Performing Arts) in the 2018\/19 academic year. I am in the MA Lied und Oratorium programme under the tutelage of Martin V\u00e1cha and Anton Scharinger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oberlin<\/a>
May 2018: Oberlin College & Conservatory graduation ceremony<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My project also involves researching vocal pedagogical methods under the guidance of Dr. Christian Herbst and Dr. Ian Howell. In 2018, I completed my bachelor\u2019s degree in voice and musicology at Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music in Ohio, but my family lives in Boston. My life history is complicated: I am also Bulgarian but was born in Great Britain \u2013 but let\u2019s leave that for another day\u263a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Fulbright project for the 2018\/19 academic year (it is titled \u201cModern Austrian Vocal Pedagogical Methods in a Global Context\u201d) has three parts: first, my studies at the mdw; second, my research; and third, practising (rehearsing, playing, and everything else to do with the practical element of singing!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
January 2019: with other exchange students at the Ball der Wissenschaften<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Studies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am completing various courses in the mdw\u2019s Department of Vocal Studies and Music Theatre and in its Antonio Salieri Department of Vocal Studies and Vocal Research in Music Education. My first observation about the curriculum was the amount of attention placed on body awareness and health. One of the classes, \u201cAtem- und K\u00f6rperschulung,\u201d is required for all four years of bachelor\u2019s study and is a movement training class for singers to exercise, connect with, and learn about their bodies, which are, in fact, our instruments. On Saturday, 13 October 2018, I attended the \u201c10th Gesangsp\u00e4dagogisches Symposium\u201d in the Antonio Salieri Department of Vocal Studies and Vocal Research in Music Education, with many lectures and workshops, including Feldenkrais body work and \u201cThe Art of Hearing According to Fran\u00e7ois Louche.\u201d This is a new technique for body and music that I had never heard of before!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ialso think that the curriculum is very focused on practical, work-in-the-field experience. The academic classes are also useful, but the opportunities to take practical classes are so helpful for musicians. In the first semester I also took Sebastian Schwarz\u2019s \u201cAuditioning\u201d class, and it was a very useful experience. This summer semester, in addition to my regular classes (including Didactics 1 and 2 with Dr. Elke Nagl), I will take Respiro e Movimento\u201d with Giuseppe Rav\u00ec, \u201cKarriere-Mentoring\u201d with Margit Klaushofer, \u201cFeldenkrais \u2013 Bewusstheit durch Bewegung\u201d with Adrian Cox in the Department of Music and Movement Education, and \u201cNaturwissenschaftliche Grundlagen der Klangforschung\u201d with Vasileios Chatziioannou in the Department of Music Acoustics \u2013 Wiener Klangstil (IWK).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am very interested in studying the various national schools of vocal pedagogy. My Fulbright project also includes research into the methods of the Viennese vocal school, under the supervision of Dr. Christian Herbst and Dr. Ian Howell. In addition, I am studying whether the convergence of the national vocal processes could contain national identifying characteristics and what role technology plays in this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the semester break in February, in addition to regular practicing and rehearsals, I made progress in my part of the research project, spending many hours in Vienna libraries before finding the central operetta for my research project: \u201cIm wiessen R\u00f6ssl\u201d. Under the guidance of my advisors, I will analyse these recording acoustically, evaluating them and controlling for certain variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subsequent results will then either confirm or disprove my hypothesis and contribute to my overall research project, which studies the influence of historical and cultural differences on vocal styles (and their corresponding pedagogical methodologies) that result over time, particularly in our modern, globalised world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of this project is to gather a great deal of experience and take advantage of everything Vienna has to offer musically and educationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
October 2018: at the \u201cBibliosph\u00e4re: Die Kugel der Zeit\u201d at the mdw as part of the Wien Modern festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Singing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am so grateful to have had so many valuable experiences in various areas in this year. At the end of October, I participated in \u201cBibliosph\u00e4re: Die Kugel der Zeit\u201d, an mdw production as part of the Wien Modern festival. It was a very interesting event in which Maestro Marino Formenti, along with many students, turned the reading room of the mdw library into an eight-hour listening experience featuring music from several centuries. I was so happy that I was able to perform along with wonderful fellow students and meet instrumentalists at the mdw location on Anton-von-Webern-Platz (because the Department of Vocal Studies and Music Theatre is in Penzing, there is not so much \u201ccross-pollination\u201d there).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
December 2018: as Gretel in \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d at the Schlosstheater Sch\u00f6nbrunn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
2018: masterclass with Krassimira Stoyanova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In December, I had the incredible experience of appearing nearly every morning for a week as Gretel in Humperdinck\u2019s \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d. These performances for primary-school children at the Schlosstheater Sch\u00f6nbrunn, sometimes twice a day, were one of the highlights of the first semester. Afterwards, I was selected to take part in a masterclass with the Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, and it was an exceedingly delightful experience that was close to my Bulgarian heart! It was really a dream come true to work with a singer of this calibre, particularly one who is so technically refined and views the voice as instrument and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
December 2018: recital by the class of my lied and oratorio professor Anton Scharinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then came the season of recitals, a very exciting and magical time! I performed at the December class recital of my lied and oratorio professor Anton Scharinger (where I sang an aria by G. F. H\u00e4ndel and songs by Alexander Zemlinsky) and in January at the recital given by students of my voice professor Martin V\u00e1cha (where I sang an aria by C. M. von Weber, a duet by F. Leh\u00e1r, and a song by S. Sondheim).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
January 2019: recital by students of my voice professor Martin V\u00e1cha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was chosen by the Fulbright Austria Commission for the Fulbright Berlin Seminar in March, where I will sing Schubert Lieder and other arias at a concert. I\u2019m also looking forward to participating in a project by students of stage direction, appearing in March as No\u00e9mie in J. Massenet\u2019s \u201cCendrillon\u201d and in June as Clorinda in G. Rossini\u2019s \u201cLa Cenerentola\u201d. It is a tremendous experience to sing the same role in two different settings of the same story in two different operas in two different languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For April, I am preparing a concert of selected arias and ensembles from oratorios, including Bach\u2019s \u201cSt. Matthew Passion\u201d, with the Webern Kammerphilharmonie under Erwin Ortner, which will take place at the Schlosstheater Sch\u00f6nbrunn. I will also be singing Eastern European works in a broadcast by the Bulgarian National Radio (in which a Germen song cycle by a Bulgarian composer will be given its first performance). In May, I will then sing in recitals of my two professors. I have a lovely repertoire for these recitals and am already excited about the opportunity to work with two wonderful pianists: Istv\u00e1n M\u00e1ty\u00e1s and Pantelis Polychronidas. Finally, at the beginning of May, there will be a seminar in the Austrian town of Strobl, organised by the Fulbright programme, where I will perform together with my fellow Fulbright students and present my work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything is culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vienna is truly enchanting, both for tourists (with the Christmas markets and the balls) as well as for musicians; there are so many superb musical events constantly taking place in and around Vienna. The sheer number of world-class musical organisations (Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Volksoper, Vienna Philharmonic, Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, and SO much more) is overwhelming and offers an enormous amount of art at the highest level. One of the highlights of the many musical events I have experienced up until now was seeing the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Didon in Berlioz\u2019s \u201cLes Troyens\u201d at the Vienna State Opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joyce<\/a>
October 2018: at the stage door of the Vienna State Opera with Joyce DiDonato after \u201cLes Troyens\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She was so lovely on and off the stage \u2013 my friend and I had the opportunity to speak with her after the performance. She shared pearls of wisdom, signed my poster, and said: \u201cHang it up in your future voice studio\u201d. Not to mention that her stupendous vocal technique and expression was incredibly inspiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austria: A4 = 443 Hz; USA: A4 = 440 Hz<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
A splendid staircase<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think that there is a particularly apt symbolic fact for the first half of my Fulbright year at the mdw in Vienna: in Austria, A4 = 443 Hz and in the US 440 Hz. You would not think so, but these three hertz really make a difference!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as I arrived in Austria and used the mdw practice rooms in Vienna, I was constantly amazed that everything felt higher, stronger, and more energised, until one day when I looked into the piano, saw the tuning pitch, and voil\u00e0 \u2013 suddenly everything made sense!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are interested in following my adventure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/viennesevoice.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has never been so true as for this soprano who freshly graduated from a US conservatory. My name is Theodora Nestorova, and I am studying on a Fulbright scholarship at Vienna\u2019s mdw (University of Music and Performing Arts) in the 2018\/19 academic year. I am in the MA Lied und Oratorium programme under the 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