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VC INTERVIEW | Aleksey Igudesman's Upcoming IDAGIO Course — "The Musician’s Guide to Absolutely Everything"

 

The four classes will cover "Composition and Arrangements" (May 29th,) "Improvisation & Creativity" (June 5th,) "Confidence & Humor on Stage" (June 12th,) and "The Business Side of Things" (June 25th.)

You can find more information about the course and register here.

 

 

Hi. Tell us about yourself? Who may we ask, is the real Aleksey Igudesman?

As much as I may appear like a megalomaniac at times, I still find it strange to talk about myself in the third person!

But seriously - defining oneself is always tricky, especially in my case. Well ok, here goes nothing: Aleksey Igudesman is a modern renaissance man: a violinist, composer, entrepreneur, comedian, film director, producer, passionate cook and apparently a bit of a show-off, since he is able to say all that about himself.

And of late he has discovered his passion for passing on some of the knowledge and wisdom he has accumulated over the years.

 

What do you love to do with your violin and away from it? 

I love redefining the boundaries of violin playing, emulating various styles and other instruments and morphing various techniques. In my own orchestral tools library, I have made these extraordinary sounds and techniques for film, game and electronic music composers worldwide.

Away from the violin I am interested in many things, most of them leading me back to music in one way or another. I love writing music, whether it is for my own or other instruments, for ensembles, orchestra or for film. I love producing and directing also.

And of course I do want to make the world a better place. With my start-up Music Traveler I aim to make music, rehearsal, recording and performing spaces available for people around the world. And with IDAGIO I want to share as much of my knowledge as possible with others.

 

We hear you will be teaching an upcoming course on IDAGIO, about "absolutely everything" apparently, tell us about this?

This will be a series of highly interactive workshops in which I aim to ask some very fundamental questions:

What do you want to achieve? What do you want from me? And what do you really want in general?

I want to make the wishes of fellow musicians and artists come true, as I do mine. But above all, I want to start finding out what our true wishes and desires are.

I will share secrets and tricks of the trade, how to have a constant creative flow, how to enjoy everything you do more.

And how to be truly successful, starting with learning to be deeply proud of oneself, without falling into the trap of being obnoxious.

 

 

 

What kinds of topics will you be covering in your 4-day online course? And what topics will you stay absolutely clear of? 

I do not want to stay clear of anything essentially. Any topic is up for grabs. A great teacher I believe listens to his pupils.

Yet I do not want this to be a teacher/pupil situation. Interactive means that I want to pass on how to truly learn from oneself and ones fellow peers.

The subjects will be starting from career tips and secrets to creative exercises, sharing hopes and visions and learning how to define and finish projects.

It can be learning secrets on your instrument, looking at some of my compositions and seeing how and why I put them together.

Above all, I promise to have a blast with you. On top of that there are many exciting perks on offer.

And obviously you may find out a thing or two about how to market yourself (hopefully without selling your soul to the devil, of course).

 

Will we have to call you Professor now? 

One of the definitions of ‘professor’ is a person who affirms a faith in or allegiance to something.

My deep allegiance is to creativity. I guess one could give me the fictional title of professor of creativity.

In the end all titles are fictional. But as long as everyone believes in the same fiction it becomes reality.

So if I profess to be a Professor I guess I may become one.

 

And these will be interactive and live online classes, yes? Not pre-recorded nor available for playback to others not attending, right? Your students will signup for the course and meet online daily and interact with yourself and their classmates — like an online college course, yes?

The courses are indeed live and highly interactive. However if you do happen to miss a session or two, you will have private access to rewatch it!

I do not want to think of the people who participate as students, but rather as collaborators. I want us to create some special magical moments together and for it to be the beginning of a social friendship.

We will form an allegiance of sorts and learn the importance of being interconnected.

 

So it takes place from late May to late June. How long is each class per day?

It’s on four weekends going from May into June, basically.

May 29th – Composition and Arrangements

June 5th – Improvisation and Creativity

June 12th – Confidence & Humor Onstage

June 25th – The Business Side of Things

Each session starts at 17:00 CET and runs for around 90 mins.

 

 

Who would be most suitable for taking your online course and how will Professor Igudesman make a tangible difference in his student’s music careers?

I envision this to be for anyone who is open to enhancing their creativity and wants to further their career in music or in life. Also for people who are curious about my music and the way I do things.

 

Will you be standing on any furniture at all, Dead Poet’s Society-style teaching? 

I will do much more than stand on furniture! We will all learn to fly together!

And all that without wings. I want to pass on that we can all create magic together.

Inspire each other.

 

You are also offering a number of additional perks exclusively for your course students. Such as ….? 

— A chance for a meet & greet at any concert worldwide

2 months of IDAGIO Premium+ for free

— A personal recommendation/quote from me for whatever you may need

10% discount for Music Traveler

— A signed physical or digital copy of my exclusive DVD “Upbeat” with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (not available anywhere else)

20% discount at Thomastik-Infeld

— A chance to win a year’s supply of strings

Free one-month access to one of my products from the Universal Edition catalog

One free submission with Scodo

 

And when do people need to apply by? 

Applications are open until the day before the course starts but places are limited so people should sign up as soon as they can!

 

In 7 words or less, (none of them cusses) why should we attend? 

Together we will improve our world!

 

Who’s funnier, Igudesman & Joo or TwoSet?

That's like comparing apples to oranges. Or more like blueberries to pineapples.

I myself love blueberries!

 

You can find more information about the course and register here.

 

 

upcoming events

april 2024

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