MASTER CLASSESHOW TO CREATE DRAMATIC OPERA CHARACTERS 01.07.-14.07. 2025 Jelsa, Hvar, Croatia
The aim of the Master Classes How To Create Dramatic Opera Characters is to help aspiring opera singers feel natural and relaxed on stage in specific dramatic situations. They will be able to develop their vocal skills and master the basic craft techniques of opera.
The course will focus on technical and movement improvement according to the individual needs and level of development of the participants. Emphasis is also placed on teamwork on stage, including the use of props and costumes. When it comes to character creation, we will focus on articulation, timbre and facial expression, as well as other important aspects. It is very important for young singers to gain confidence and a clear understanding of character and character development as they perform each musical number. They will gain skills how to approach the study of an opera role and all its demands.
The workshop is designed for singers who wish to perform not only opera, but also song literature or sacred music. Participants will have the opportunity to perform in several concerts: Songs, Musica Sacra, Famous Opera Melodies and the final performance of Opera Fragments. Selected participants will be able to take part in a project in cooperation with the Banská Bystrica State Opera. The Master Classes will take place at the Music School and Theatre in Jelsa, a picturesque seaside town on the island of Hvar in Croatia.
Pedagogical leadership
doc. Mgr. Klaudia Račić Derner, ArtD.- singing – character on stage
Academy of Arts Banská Bystrica
Mgr. art. Jana Juríčková, ArtD.- singing – vocal preparation
Music and art academy of Ján Albrecht Banská Štiavnica
Lucia Vráblicová- acting, actors´training
Mgr. art. Daniel Simandl, ArtD.- conductor, music preparation
Academy of Arts Banská Bystrica, Banská Bystrica State Opera
Mgr. art. Peter Pažický, ArtD. – piano – study of opera parts
Academy of Arts Banská Bystrica
Mgr.art. Peter Dekrét- piano, music preparation
Academy of Arts Banská Bystrica
Mgr. art. Zulfizar Zázrivá, PhD., ArtD.- piano, music preparation
Academy of Arts Banská Bystrica
Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council- main project partner
Klaudia Račić Derner completed her studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where she also received her doctorate in Music under the guidance of doc. Magdaléna Blahušiaková. While still a student, she was engaged by the Slovak National Theatre and made her debut in the opera La Bohéme as Mimi. She has been a soloist at the Slovak National Theatre for 25 years, performing in numerous productions. Her leading roles are mainly from the Slavic repertoire. She has won numerous prizes at various international competitions. She was awarded the International Thália Award and the Alfréd Radok Prize in the Czech Republic for her performance in a leading female role. She has participated in numerous workshops and courses, mainly in Italy under the direction of Maestro Carlo Bergonzi, as well as with Gabriela Beňačkova and Margaret Honig. She has also worked with Eliška Pappová, Miloslava Sopirova and Zlatica Livorova. At the request of a Japanese manager, she created a number of performances of opera and operetta (Carmen, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Elisire dámore, Die Csárdásfürstin…), which were successfully toured in Japan, where she herself tried to introduce young opera singers. For several years, she lectured at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava on How To Create Dramatic Opera Character. This experience led to her developing a deeper relationship with young musicians, which she continues to enjoy. She is an active professor and leads several educational programmes. She continued with the idea of providing opportunities for young artists and promoting their work by inviting them to various performances. Currently, she works as a professor at the Academy of Arts in Banska Bystrica.
Jana Juríčková The Slovak soprano-coloratura was a long-time soloist of the Slovak National Theater Opera. She studied singing at the Academy of Music in Bratislava under the guidance of doc. Magdalena Blahusiaková.
During her studies, she made her debut at the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava as Blonde in Mozart’s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1999. Since then, she has appeared in several roles, including Norina in Donizetti’s ‘Don Pasquale’.Adina (L’Elisir d’ amore) and Lucia di Lammermoor, Mozart’s Zerlina (DonGiovanni), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Gilda (Verdi: Rigoletto), Oscar (Verdi: Ballo di Maschera), Zerbinetta (R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos) … At the National Theatre in Brno she guest-starred in the roles of Terinka (Dvořák: Jakobin), Verdi’s Gilda, Puccini with Musetta (La Boheme), Mozart’s Queen of the Night – (she performed this role in the Czech Republic, Japan and Germany) 2010. It is performed at the Opera of the National Theatre in Prague as Olympia in Les Contes ‘Hoffmann and as Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo. Since 2016 she is teaching voice at the Conservatory in Bratislava. Currently, she is a professor at the Ján Albrecht Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Banská Štiavnica.
Lucia Vráblicová is a graduate of the Bratislava Conservatory. She has performed in numerous theatres. She has appeared on the stages of the Astorka Theatre (Romeo and Juliet, The Castle), the Malá Scéna Theatre (For Lunch), the Aréna Theatre (Point 0), the City Theatre (Woody Allen) and the Slovak National Theatre (The Broken Jug).
Her many productions at the New Stage include the musicals Madame de Pompadour (Soubrette), Blood Brothers (Lyonsova in the first and second performances), Grand Pierrot (Georges Sadová), The Client of Fools (Maria Moriaková), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Putifarka), and Paganini (the innkeeper). The Hospital on the Brink (Sister Raftonová), Shakespeare (Death), Agent Kroviak Intervenes, The Count of Luxembourg (Countess Kokozova), Lemonade Joe (Buffalo Bill’s Widow), Fidlovačka (Jenta), Don’t Take Our Princess (Governor), Rebels (Teacher), Some Like It Hot (Sweet Sue), Kubo (Bečelová) and Crazy Scissors (Mrs. Hagyariová, Donaha, The Idiot for Dinner, Everything’s Screwed Up, 8 Women, The Beatles (Eleanor Rigby), Mrázik (Ivan’s mother), Charlie’s Aunt (Charlie’s aunt), Gypsies Are Going to Heaven (Izergil), The Prince and the Evening Star (queen), The Shop on the Korzo (Ružena Kolkocká), The Servant of Two Masters (Dolly), Drink Tea, My Love! (Director Klara), and the musical Madame de Pompadour (Queen Marie Leszczyńska).
She acted in the films: Joan’s Secret, The Miraculous Nose, Vojtech, Love on a String, The Broken Promise, The Song and the Queen Harmony. You could see her in the TV series: New Life, The True Face, The Office in the Rose Garden, Mafstory, The Zoo and Behind the Glass.
She is also known for her deep voice in dubbing and radio work, with which she often and regularly collaborates.
Daniel Simandl graduatid at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava at the Department of Orchestral conducting. His teachers were renowned conductors Ondrej Lenárd and Peter Feranec. Afterwards he continued his studies with Jiří Bělohlávek in Prague and additionally graduated from the Summer Academy at Mozarteum University in Salzburg under the supervision of German conductor Bruno Weil. At the Opera of Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, he was conducting several ballet performances as Dubovský´s Mystery Key and Minkus´ Bajadera. He has collaborated with Orchestra of the Slovak Radio, the State Philharmonic Orchestra Košice, the State Chamber Orchestra Žilina, the Metropolitan Orchestra Bratislava, the Orchestra Camerata Novisoliensis and Il Cuore Barocco. He worked at the opera festival in Gars am Kamp in Austria, in the Opera of the Janáček’s Theatre in Brno and in the Prague National Theatre. Daniel Simandl has been cooperating with Viennese Arnold Schoenberg Chor. Together with the State Chamber Orchestra Žilina he performed Mozart’s Magic Flute, Donizetti’s Elixir of Love and Don Pasqual, Smetana’s Stolen Bride for younger audience and Ryba’s”Czech Christmas Mass”. He introduced the F. Lehár’s operetta Count from Luxembourg at the Nová Scéna Theatre in Bratislava. Daniel Simandl is the founder of the singer ensemble Danubius Octet Singers, with whom he made a profile CD “A Cappella Pur” , a DVD recording to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ľudovít Štúr and the CD – Slovak song. He was conducting the ensemble on the Mitte Europa , Janáčkovy Hukvaldy, Musica Sacra 2014, Nitra Musical Autumn, Budapest, Vienna, International festival of the choirs in Pécs, International festival of chamber music Konvergencie and at Smetana’s Litomyšl. He introduced the Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Rita” at the Chamber Opera in Bratislava and also has become the conductor of the Prague Children’s Opera. From the season 2020/21 he works on the position of assistent conductor and chorus master at the State Opera in Banska Bystrica, where he leads also Opera Studio at the Academy of Arts.
Peter Pažický completed her studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, in the class of prof. Marian Lapšanský, with whom he also completed his doctoral studies. He attended performance classes with Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Eugene Indjić and Lazar Berman. A two-time winner of the Competition for Slovak Conservatory Students, he also won the Smetana Competition in Hradec Kralove, and was a three-time winner of the Chopin Competition in Marianske Lazne . At the Ministry of Education Interpretation Competition in Banská Bystrica, he won the prize for best interpretation of the sonatas of W. A. Mozart. And at the Second International J. N. Hummel Competition, he won the Slovak Music Fund prize for the best Slovak participant.
In partnership with the pianist Aleš Solárik, he won major awards for piano duo at several Slovak and international competitions: first prize in the Competition for Slovak Conservatory Students and in the International Schubert Competition for Piano Duos in Jeseník; first prize at the International Competition “City of Marsala” in Italy; and first prize at the international com-petition focused on 20th century music, the Valentino Bucchi Prize in Rome. The Slovak piano duo was subsequently introduced to many Slovak and European con-cert halls – in Austria, Germany, Italy, Russia and Denmark, – as well as domestic and foreign festivals. They made a recording, with the Danish percussion duo Safri, for the British company Chandos.
Mr. Pažický has performed with the State Chamber Orchestra of Žilina, the Slo-vak Radio Orchestra, the Austrian Youth Philharmonic, the Prague ChamberOrchestra, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the Bohdan Warchal Chamber Orchestra in Bratislava and the State Philharmonic in Košice. He has given reci-tals at home and abroad, and recorded for Slovak Radio, Unison Records Pavlik Records and the Slovak Music Fund. Chopin takes a significant place in Mr. Pažický’s repertoire. On the occasion of the Chopin Jubilee, he performed the complete Chopin Waltzes at the International Festival “Chopin Spring,” and in the fall of 2010 he presented recitals at the EXPO in Shanghai.
In addition to his con-cert activities, he teaches at the Conservatory and the High School of Musical Arts in Bratislava. As a piano teacher he was lector of Master courses of Samick Musical Instrument co, Incheon-Korea in Kosice. He leads educational lectures for piano teachers, for example for slovak section of EPTA .
Recently, he prepared several important works of Slovak composers for the promotion of significant known and unknown works of Slovak composers.
