The Young Artists Festival Bayreuth was founded in 1950 under the patronage of Jean Sibelius. It is a place of international exchange, a meeting place for young people from all over the world, a place of learning for intercultural competence, a place to experiment in music, theatre, film, literature and art. Art and music in particular form the platform on which the young participants from all over the world engage in dialogue, explore and expand performance limits, and experience and shape key moments of creativity and passion. The 74th year of the festival offers workshops and various concerts in Bayreuth and the region as well as digital projects under the general theme of “Zu:kunft” (Future).

One workshop of the 74th festival is the digital „Intercultural Piano Pedagogy Project”. It offers a unique platform of international exchange for young piano teachers from all over the world. Dr. Pooyan Azadeh initiated this project for the first time in 2010 at the Bayreuth Festival of Young Artists and has successfully led it four times.

The workshop focuses on:

• The comparison of the piano pedagogy and piano literature from different cultures and countries
• Getting to know different methods of piano teaching

During his studies to become a concert pianist at the University of the Arts Tehran the Iranian pianist and piano teacher Pooyan Azadeh focused on the European piano music- As a DAAD scholarship holder he was the first to devote himself to the pedagogical discussion of Persian piano music during his doctorate at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg/ Germany. Since 2015 he is holding the first professorship for piano at the University of Arts Tehran and is the head of the Pooyan Piano Institute. Pooyan Azadeh has made it is task to establish the content of his research focus in his own home country as well.

Pianist Alex Peh collaborates with musicians globally in search of shared resonances that emerge from friendship and connection. A 2021 Fulbright Global Scholar and 2019 Asian Cultural Council Fellow, he has worked with notable musicians and composers. Peh’s work has been presented internationally and throughout the United States. Peh received his musical training from Indiana and Northwestern Universities where he worked with Arnaldo Cohen, Menahem Pressler, Sylvia Wang and Evelyne Brancart. He is an associate professor of piano at SUNY New Paltz.

The workshop will take place from July 31st to August 2nd 2024 digitally via Zoom. There are no participation fees. The workshop will be held in English. The results of the workshop will be recorded in image and sound and presented to the public at the end of the project as part of the 74th Young Artists Festival Bayreuth.

Requirements for a workshop participation:

• Experience as a piano teacher
• Availability of your own piano
• Internet access and device with a working camera
• A approx. 10-minute presentation of the piano music and piano teaching methods of your home country as well as a piano lesson for beginners or a special aspect from practice.

The following must be submitted with the application:

• Curriculum vitae
• Brief description of your experience as a piano teacher
• Summary of piano pedagogical aspects of your country of origin (1 A4 page)

Please submit your applications by Friday, July 26th, 2024 to:
Dr. Isabel von Bredow-Klaus, Artistic Director, email: kbb@youngartistsbayreuth.com

We are looking forward to receive your application!