Events and Tickets
NCH International Master Course
- Monday 28th July to Saturday 2nd August 2025
National Concert Hall's International Master Course runs from Monday 28 July - Saturday 2nd August 2025 with public master classes each day and three concerts.
This intensive summer school provides national and international musicians with the opportunity to take part in a series of masterclasses and seminars by world-renowned musicians. Over the duration of the course, participants will receive one-on-one masterclasses, chamber music coaching with new ensembles and performance opportunities.
The International Master Course is led by one of Ireland’s foremost musicians, Artistic Director Gwendolyn Masin (violin). Gwendolyn is one of today’s most significant concert violinists and an innovator in classical music. We are delighted that Emma O’Halloran will return as composer in residence during the course this summer.
Deadline Sunday, 27th April 2025
Faculty:
Gwendolyn Masin, violin
Lena Neudauer, violin
Tomoko Akasaka, viola
Guy Johnston, cello
Oliver Schnyder, piano
Mentors:
Jennifer Murphy, violin
Martin Moriarty, viola
Patrick Moriarty, cello
Composer in Residence: Emma O'Halloran
Course Pianists: Dearbhla Brosnan and Éadaoin Copeland
Course fee: €600 Please note that there is one bursary each for viola, cello, piano, and two for violin which are available to cover the course fee. These will be awarded to students who are most in need of the financial assistance and would otherwise be unable to attend.
Collaborative Composition Workshops with Emma O’Halloran
Over the course of the week, participants will engage in a series of hands-on workshops, guided discussions, and collaborative explorations designed to unravel the intricacies of the composition process. Led by composer Emma O’Halloran, these sessions are aimed at fostering a rich exchange of ideas in a supportive and inspiring environment. Participants will collectively create original compositions and have the opportunity to share their work and gain insights into the creative processes of their fellow musicians. Emma will also be available for individual composition lessons throughout the week.
Public Master Classes
Individual lessons and ensemble coaching sessions will be open to observers, please note the times listed below are subject to change, tickets may be purchased through the box office.
The International Master Course is kindly supported by TJ O'Connor and the Sheridan Family in memory of Patricia Sheridan, Young European Strings and in memory of Mr Roy Hayes, a former avid concert goer at the NCH.
Gwendolyn Masin, violin
Artistic Director
Gwendolyn Masin is one of today’s significant concert violinists.
She performs internationally to praise from press and audiences alike as a soloist, chamber musician and as guest with orchestras. Gwendolyn teaches violin and chamber-music master classes at institutes and festivals throughout Europe and North America and gives talks concerning her areas of expertise. She is also an artistic director and PhD scholar. She is Professor of Violin Studies at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, since September 2013. She is also the author of the award-winning book, Michaela’s Music House, The Magic of the Violin which is available in English and German and is part of the ESTA Edition collection available via Müller & Schade. In 2017, born out of the wish to shine a light on home-grown talent and offer international perspectives to young musicians and audiences in Ireland alike, she shaped a chamber music series and later the National Concert Hall International Music Course.
Emma O’Halloran, composer
Composer in Residence
Irish composer Emma O’Halloran is interested in joy, wonder, hope, and connection, and her music is driven by a desire to capture the magic of what it means to be human. Freely intertwining acoustic and electronic music, Emma has written for folk musicians, chamber ensembles, turntables, laptop orchestra, symphony orchestra, opera, and theatre, and her work has been described as “intensely beautiful” (Washington Post) and “unencumbered, authentic, and joyful” (I Care If You Listen).
Known for her unique ability to fuse elements of pop, rock, and electronic music while exploring the colours and textures of acoustic instruments, her work has found a wide audience and has been featured at various music festivals such as Classical NEXT, PODIUM Esslingen, New Music Dublin, Tokyo’s Born Creative Festival, and Bang on a Can LOUD Weekend.
Emma loves working with people of all ages to explore and create music, and she has served as a mentor for various composition programmes in Ireland and the United States. In 2021, in partnership with the NCH, she founded the Creative Lab, an award-winning mentorship programme for young composers from traditionally under-represented groups in music composition.
Emma holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University and is currently working as a freelance composer. Current and future projects include works for Friction Quartet, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, a saxophone concerto, and a new opera with Naomi Louisa O’Connell.
Lena Neudauer
Violin
Lena Neudauer was born in Munich and started playing the violin at the age of 3. She began studying with Helmut Zehetmair at the Mozarteum Salzburg when she was 11 years old. Thomas Zehetmair and Christoph Poppen then followed in her studies. At the age of just 15, she spectacularly won the Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg and received almost all the special prizes. In 2010 her debut album with the complete recording of Schumann’s repertoire for violin and orchestra was honored with the International Classical Music Award (ICMA). Her Beethoven album won the Supersonic Award in 2020.
In chamber music, she has an intensive collaboration with Silke Avenhaus, Julia Fischer, Matthias Kirschnereit, Nils Mönkemeyer, Julian Steckel, Dénes Várjon, among others.
Lena Neudauer regularly performes with renowned conductors and orchestras.
At the age of 26, Lena Neudauer was appointed professor of violin at the Saar University of Music. She has currently been a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich since 2016.
Tomoko Akasaka
Viola
During and after winning numerous prizes includes ARD Competition in Munich Ms.Akasaka has performed worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed regularly at major concert halls as soloist with Orchestras includes Das Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, L'Orchestre de chambre de Genève and as a chamber musician with such as Gidon Kremer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Philippe Jarousky among others.
She also appears often at international music festivals in Europe, south America and Asia. Ms. Akasaka currently holds a position of Viola professor at the Münster Musikhochschule, and giving masterclasses in Europe, Asia and South and North America in regular basis.
Guy Johnston
Cello
Guy Johnston is one of the most exciting British cellists of his generation. His early successes included winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year. He has performed with many leading international orchestras including the London Philharmonic, and St Petersburg Symphony. Recent seasons have included a BBC Prom with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A prolific recording artist, Guy’s most recent release is Rebecca Dale’s ‘Night Seasons’ with the Philharmonia Orchestra. 2025 will bring forth Guy’s latest recording of Xiaogang Ye’s My Faraway Nanjing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Guy is also an inspiring leader of young musicians. He was an Associate Professor of Cello at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (2018 – 2024) and has recently been appointed as a Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music.
Oliver Schnyder
Piano
Oliver Schnyder is an internationally acclaimed Swiss pianist celebrated for his artistry and versatility. A student of Homero Francesch in Zurich and Leon Fleisher in Baltimore, he has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, and Tokyo Opera City. Festival appearances include Lucerne, Gstaad, Ruhr Piano, and Schwarzenberg. Schnyder has partnered with leading orchestras such as the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the Philharmonia Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonhalle Orchestra, working with renowned conductors like Semyon Bychkov, Philippe Jordan, Sir Roger Norrington, and David Zinman. As a member of the celebrated Oliver Schnyder Trio, he enjoys global recognition for his chamber music performances.
His award-winning recordings on RCA Red Seal and Sony Classical have earned him a German Record Critics’ Award. Oliver Schnyder is the Artistic Director of the Zurich- based Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists.
