"This course uniquely integrates chamber music coaching with leadership training, offering conductors a rare opportunity to develop deep listening skills and chamber musicians the chance to enhance their ensemble leadership."
Chamber music & Conducting course with
Peter Stark
Oliver Kipp
28 April - 2 May 2025
(5 days in total)
Rockbourne, Hampshire
We are excited to introduce a new STARmusiK course format led by Peter Stark and Oliver Kipp, focussing on the interplay between chamber music and leadership skills.
We invite two dedicated chamber groups and two aspiring conductors to join us for an intensive five-day course. The chamber groups should ideally be pre-formed, ambitious groups eager for expert tuition in a beautiful setting. There are no restrictions on the instrumental composition of these groups, provided each group has no more than five members.
Peter Stark and Oliver Kipp (see below) will run this course together. Oliver will be mostly responsible for coaching and overseeing the rehearsals for both groups. The onus on Peter’s work with the two conductors will be based on his ‘Silent Conducting’ model of teaching, but will also train them for a performance on the final day of the course.
A final concert, held in the charming Rockbourne Village Hall, will feature each chamber group performing a substantial work. The two groups will then join forces for a special arrangement of a well-known piece, celebrating the collaborative spirit of the course.
The beauty of this model is that that Peter will also give sessions to the chamber groups on the skills of leadership, and Oliver will be teaching the conductors how to listen!
There will also be a resident coach in the study and understanding of body use, in group sessions but also individual as needed.
Meet the Instructors
Meet Peter Stark and Oliver Kipp, our internationally renowned tutors for the Peter Stark Conducting Course. With years of expertise in tutoring, they are dedicated to nurturing the next generation of talented musicians.
Oliver Kipp
Chamber Music
Oliver Kipp studied violin with Atila Aydintan in Hannover and Thomas Brandis in Berlin. Member of the EUYO – then European Community Youth Orchestra – from 1987–1993, he was a Guest player of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1994 to 1998 and leader of the NDR Radiophilharmonie since 1998.
Oliver Kipp founded the Hyperion Trio in 1999, with which he has an intense concert activity, during the 2024/2025 season, the Trio is featured as "Artists in Residence" of the Gesellschaftshaus in Magdeburg: Apart from Performances with repertoire from Haydn to Contemporary Music they give masterclasses for students of the Magdeburg conservatory. In 2016, this ensemble also founded the Klanginsel Helgoland festival, whose aim is to compare well-known masterpieces with rarely performed works in order to trace music-historical contexts.
Oliver Kipp is a tutor for violin and chamber music of the European Union Youth Orchestra since 2008. He regularly holds masterclasses in Germany and abroad and is a jury member in international chamber music competitions. He is a teacher at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, and coaches students of the Orchestra Academy of the NDR Radio Philharmonic.
Peter Stark
Conducting
Peter Stark’s performances are exhilarating, imaginative and thought-provoking, and he has inspired thousands of musicians across the world. At the heart of all Peter’s work as conductor lies a passion and commitment to the study and practice of music to profit humanity.
Peter has conducted a large number of the world’s leading ensembles including London Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian National Ballet, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and English Chamber Orchestra. He has assisted many of the world’s finest conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Pierre Boulez, Marin Alsop, Lord Menuhin, Sir Roger Norrington and Klaus Tennstedt.
Peter’s reputation as an orchestral trainer is renowned. He is Rehearsal Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. He was Conductor-in-Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for 25 years. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra in 2018.
In the current season Peter conducts performances in Singapore and many venues across Europe.
Course Details
Participants: two already established chamber ensembles and two conductors
Staff: Peter Stark, Oliver Kipp and a dedicated body use coach
Fees:
£2500 per chamber group (regardless of size)
£1000 per conductor
£400 per observer
All fees are without accommodation and travel, but include food
Accommodation:
Both groups will stay in a beautiful large converted barn in the area. This can accommodate up to thirteen people in rooms that vary from ensuite king sized double to triple single beds. The cost of this accommodation varies therefore, from £40 - £80 pp per night.