Gwendolyn Masin


Gwendolyn Masin is a violinist.

Early Biography

Born in Amsterdam, Gwendolyn Masin is the descendant of a long line of professional musicians from Central and Eastern Europe.
Masin began to play the piano at the age of 3. She took up the violin at the age of 5 and within her initial year of schooling, gave her first public performance in the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. Aged 11, Gwendolyn was introduced to the Irish public, giving a recital in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and later that year appeared on the country's most popular television programme, The Late Late Show.
She continues to perform live broadcasts and, reputed as an engaging, charismatic speaker, is a regular guest on TV and radio shows.

Education

Gwendolyn Masin began learning the violin in the class of Coosje Wijzenbeek. Following a move to South Africa, she continued her studies with her parents in Cape Town. She was the youngest violinist to receive a Grade 6 diploma with distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music at the age of 6.
Discovered as an exceptional talent at a young age, she studied in Amsterdam with Herman Krebbers between 1990 and 1996.
She has received degrees and diplomas from four countries and her graduate studies were guided by Igor Ozim, Ana Chumachenco, Professor Zakhar Bron and Professor Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Career

Masin tours extensively as a soloist and chamber musician.
Appearances with orchestras include the performance of concertos with the Hungarian National Philharmonic, , the , the , , the , and the . She performs and records regularly with Ireland's major orchestras, and , and with youth orchestras such as the , the Chamber Orchestra of the Young European Strings School of Music and Portugal's .
Chamber music collaborations include concerts with musicians such as violinist Philippe Graffin, Jan Talich, Maxim Vengerov and Yuzuko Horigome, violists Guy Ben-Ziony, Gérard Caussé, Lilli Maijala, Isabel Charisius and Roger Chase, cellists Adrian Brendel, Alexander Baillie, Pavel Gomziakov, Gavriel Lipkind, Martti Rousi, Alexander Rudin, Julian Steckel and István Várdai, pianists Kit Armstrong, Julia Bartha, Finghin Collins, Robert Kulek, Peter Frankl, Aleksandar Madzar and György Sebök, conductors Janos Fürst and Gerhard Markson, wind instrumentalists Reto Bieri and Kaspar Zehnder, soprano Rachel Harnisch, and the actor Hanns Zischler.
Gwendolyn has premiered works from Raymond Deane, Urs Peter Schneider, Eric Sweeney, Martijn Voorvelt and John Buckley.
Buckley's Violin Concerto was premiered by Gwendolyn on 21 September 2013 in Savannah, Georgia's with the conducted by Peter Shannon. It received its European premiere in the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland, on 3 February 2015 with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted by Gavin Maloney. Don Li has specifically composed for her, both solo pieces and film music, releasing the works on .
Her most recent undertaking is a TV and web-series, titled Gwendolyn's Playground, that takes viewers to a myriad of cities around the globe to explore how classical music inspires and influences Masin, as well as other artists and their audiences.

Festivals and Music Series

Gwendolyn Masin established the international, multidisciplinary series in 2004, continuing it in 2010 with a commissioned work inspired by Paul Klee's writings, composed by Thorsten Encke. Festival appearances include the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Prussia Cove, and Internationaal Kamermuziekfestival Schiermonnikoog.
In 2006, she founded the annual GAIA Music Festival, described as one of the most important festivals in Switzerland, and in 2007 she was appointed artistic director, a post she held in Ireland for 3 years.
As of 2019 she curates a series called Cocktail für die Musen for Casino Bern, Switzerland. The purpose of the series is to build a bridge between classical music and other styles of music.

Pedagogy

Gwendolyn Masin gives violin and chamber music masterclasses in Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, France, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, the USA, Mexico and South-Korea. She holds a PhD from Trinity College where she has completed a doctoral thesis examining the similarities and differences of 20th century violin pedagogy. Her award-winning book on violin teaching , was published in 2009 by in English, and German in 2018. At the time of publication, she was the youngest female accredited with her own violin method.
Gwendolyn Masin holds a teaching position for violin studies at Haute école de musique de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland, since September 2013.

Awards & recognitions

Masin has won national and international prizes and awards in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands. As the Dutch representative at the Global Stipends Awards, she received the International Music Award. She was nominated for The Outstanding Young Persons of Switzerland award for her achievements.

Other ventures

Charitable work
In 2020, she created , a retreat for musicians that offers a holistic approach to learning. Participants receive access to topics not widely available in one place, such as professional development, yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, meditation, nutrition, music theory, pedagogy, contemporary music analysis, composition, improvisation, arts facilitator training and psychological counselling. Cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Gwendolyn Masin brought the project online, transforming it into a safe space for musicians with the objective of destigmatising typical aspects of performance life, such as repetitive strain injury or the struggles linked to playing in public. Many of the events take place for free or are based on donations. Gwendolyn Masin’s initiative was rewarded with more than a 1000 bookings for 114 events within the inaugural two weeks.

Instrument

Gwendolyn plays a Lorenzo Carcassi violin made in Florence in 1761 which has been in her family for more than 50 years.

Discography

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