Masterclass – ORCHESTRATION
November 19-23 & additional online offers
Tradition in the promotion of young talent
The interdisciplinary Masterclass ORCHESTRATION has been an integral part of the Film Music Days since 2013.
This year, five up-and-coming talents had the opportunity to work out their composition/orchestration for a film excerpt from THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING* and have it recorded by the Staatskapelle Halle. The film premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival at the beginning of September and was released in German cinemas on October 26. The composition of Markus Wentz was played at the grand final gala concert.
The Masterclass under the guidance of Benjamin Köthe and Bernd Ruf among others took place from Nov. 19-23, 2023 in Halle (Saale) at the Mitteldeutsches Multimediazentrum and in the rehearsal hall of the Staatskapelle. It was complemented by additional online sessions.
*with the kind support of Neue Visionen Filmverleih
Participants 2023
Participants 2023
Felix Lopp
Masterclass participant
My name is Felix Lopp and I am a musician and composer from Leipzig. I am currently in the final stages of my Master Jazz Composition/Arrangement at the HMT in Leipzig. However, I owe my great interest in music and also very much of my entire early musical socialization to film music and the medium of film. Even as a young boy...
Markus Wentz
Masterclass participant
Who are you and what are you doing at the moment? My name is Markus Wentz and I have been a freelance musician and music therapist for 17 years now. As a musician, I play in various band and musical projects, accompany choirs, and occasionally have arranging and composing commissions such as for a musical or piano music on the topic of grief and comfort. As a music therapist I bring my skills as a musician into the recovery process […]
Hannes Pries
Masterclass participant
Moin, my name is Hannes Pries and I'm part of this year's orchestration masterclass at the Film Music Days Saxony-Anhalt. I'm 26 year old nad a master student at the POP academy in Mannheim where I study producing and composing artist.
Maike Androsch
Teilnehmerin Masterclass
My name is Maike, I'm 26 years old, I finished my studies in Composition for Film & Theater 3 years ago and since then I'm working as a freelance film composer. I wrote my first piece of music when I was 7 years old, but after that it took quite a while before I started composing more...
Fenix Gayed
Masterclass participant
My name is Fenix Gayed, I'm 30 years old and I'm currently studying film music in the master's program at the KONRAD WOLF Film University in Potsdam-Babelsberg. I also have a progressive rock band called Soulsplitter, a live-performed electronic music project called Neon Fenix, and am self-employed as a drummer, composer, arranger, producer, DJ, and music educator...
Leiter
Benjamin Köthe
Masterclass leader
Prof. Benjamin Köthe works as a composer, orchestrator, arranger, pianist and keyboardist for studio, film and television productions as well as for concert projects with various orchestras, such as the Staatskapelle Halle, the GermanPops Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. He has also created scores for films such as "Die Apothekerin" and "Feuerreiter". He arranged Italian canzoni for a large symphony orchestra for the Echo prize-winner Vittorio Grigolo. Köthe specializes in symphonic rock crossover compositions. In July 2009, his "Mumintroll at Midnight" for symphony orchestra and rock band was premiered in Reutlingen. For many years he has been the main arranger for "Bridges to Classics" at the Handel Festival in Halle. Since 2006, Benjamin Köthe has been Professor of Popular Music at the Rostock University of Music and Drama. He has also been in charge of the DAS ORCHESTER masterclass from the very beginning, which is taking place for the 11th time this year as part of the Film Music Days.