Currently L'ASSOCIATION ARTS MUSIQUE EUROPÉENNE is presenting the international
vocal and instrumental Master Classes of Peter K Elkus.

The work

The Elkus master classes are presented for singers
and instrumentalists as artistry in either form is defined
by Self expression.

The work has two distinct levels:

          To free the "Self" for Self expression.
          To free ones technique for Self expression.

It is a given that the music must be honoured as written,
and that one knows the way around his instrument, but
the major growth comes through expression.

In working with expression, the student has the opportunity
to come in contact with where he is blocked and where his fear cuts him off from Self expression.

This work is equally effective for instrumentalists, as it releases emotional blocking, physical
holding and the stress that constricts and confines Self expression through his instrument.

For a more in depth understanding please refer to the book description of: The Telling of Our Truths - The Magic in Great Musical Performance which is included on this site.

About Peter Elkus

Peter Elkus' musical education started at the University of Denver Opera Department with
Marvin Warden as his first teacher and coachings with Aksel Schiøtz at the University of Colorado.

During this time he sang for Boris Goldovsky (known both for his opera company
and for his years of intermission programs during the radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan
Opera) who offered to guide him in his persuit of studies in New York. There he studied
vocally with Cornelius Reid, Daniel Ferro, and his final teacher Sebastian Engelberg.

During this time he also studied in opera workshops at Hunter College and the Mannes College
of Music. He then was auditioned and chosen by Maria Callas for one of the coveted openings
of the Juilliard Opera Theater at the Juilliard School of Music where he was accepted on
scholarship. In addition, he studied acting with Sanford Meisner (actor, director, and original
member of the Group Theater, director of the Neighborhood Playhouse) and Frank Corsaro
(actor, director, and artistic director of the Juilliard Opera Center), and dance with Nina Fonoroff.

Mr. Elkus started teaching in Vienna, and was then asked to fill the vacancy created by the death
of his former teacher, Sebastian Engelberg, at the Mannes College of Music where he has been
listed on the faculty for well over a decade.

While studying at The Mannes College of Music opera workshop, he met his future (and now
former) wife Frederica von Stade, whom he taught vocally from 1975 to 1985. During these ten
years, in addition to enormous international success, she received one Grammy and eleven Grammy Nominations - 8 in the Category of Best Classical Vocalist

Mr. Elkus has worked with his students in such places as:

La Scala Milano, the Metropolitan Opera New
York, the Paris Opera, the Washington Opera,
Kennedy Center Washington D.C., the Royal Opera at Covent Garden London, the San Francisco Opera, the Teatro Colon Buenos
Aires, the Hamburg State Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Grand Theatre de Geneve,
the Salzburg Music Festival, the Glyndebourne Opera, the Dallas Grand Opera, the Vienna
State Opera, the Holland Festival, the Sante Fe Opera, the Munich State Opera, Opera National La Monnaie Brussels, The New York State Opera, as well as in most of the major concert halls.

His master classes have been presented in 10 countries including the Munich State Opera, the Hochschule for Music in Vienna, the Theatre Champs Elysee in Paris and the festival of The Accademia Musicale Ottorino Respighi in Assisi and Rome. In addition he has been judge of the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions and president (following Birgit Nilsson and Placido Domingo) of the judging panel of the International Vocal Competition of the Richard Wagner Foundation at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, after which he was asked to give master classes for the winners.

His schedule includes up to 30 weeks of classes in as many as 5 different countries in addition to private teaching. He has completed a book (The Telling of Our Truths - The Magic in Great Musical Performance) and is currently in the process of creating a film on this work.

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