Benjamin Zander Master Class

Join us at 1:00 pm Eastern for the Music Mountain Academy's 1st live master class, part of the Live From Music Mountain Sunday Series, hosted by Oskar Espina-Ruiz and taught by maestro Benjamin Zander. The event is live streamed from the Music Mountain website, FB Live and YouTube.

Benjamin Zander studied composition with Benjamin Britten and cello with Gaspar Cassadó. He is the music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and author of the US National Bestseller, The Art of Possibility. His fascinating TED Talk “The transformative power of classical music” has over 5.5 million views.

The performer will be cellist Elena Ariza, Music Mountain Academy and Columbia University alumna, currently pursuing her Masters in Music at Juilliard. Elena will play Haydn Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major. We had a sound check yesterday and she sounds fantastic!

Cassatt String Quartet first violinist and Music Mountain Academy co-director, Muneko Otani, writes: “As a student at the New England Conservatory, I participated in master classes given by Ben, and they had a profound effect on my approach to music and teaching. In recent years, Cassatt in the Basin, my quartet's program in Texas, has hosted Ben three times, and he is as inspiring as ever.”

Questions are welcome in real time and in advance in the FB Live and YouTube chats, and at [email protected]. All questions are good questions!