Recently, Professor Sergiu Schwartz gave a livestreamed masterclass to five young violin students in the Samuel Vargas International Music Foundation. The students reside in three different South American countries, and the event reached over 1,000 viewers in 16 countries around the world through Facebook’s platforms. 

Sergiu Schwartz’s international concert appearances have taken him to major music centers on four continents, including twenty European countries, Israel, Asia, Canada, and over forty U. S. states, as soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music concerts. “Following in the footsteps of his fellow countrymen Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, he is a product of the best of European romantic interpretative style and 20th-Century American technical acuity,” states New York’s Newsday, while Le Soleil (Canada) notes that “he stands out as one of the best violinists of his generation.” Comparing him to the greatest violinists, Fanfare – The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors, writes: his “warmth of sound and insight into the music raise to the level of expression achieved by Oistrakh” and his “tonal sheen approaches Milstein’s… for those who lament the passing of the great violinists of the middle of the last century, Schwartz’s collection should provide a great sense of optimism that a younger violinist still commands such assured rhetoric and expressive resources. Heifetz, Milstein, Oistrakh, Isaac Stern, Francescatti – they all come to mind.” 

Alongside his performing career, Sergiu Schwartz holds the position as Professor of Violin (William B. and Sue Marie Turner Distinguished Chair in Violin) at the Schwob School of Music, Columbus State University, and as Professor at Haute Ecole de Musique et Conservatoire de Lausanne, Switzerland. He regularly conducts master classes and lectures at international music schools, colleges, and universities. Sergiu Schwartz also serves as a juror in major international competitions, including Tchaikovsky, Sarasate, Wieniawski, Michael Hill, Mozart/Salzburg, Oistrakh, Postacchini, Szeryng, Novosibirsk, as well as Canadian National, Sphinx, Stulberg, Blount-Slawson, Washington International, and others.

Professor Schwartz created an environment of inspiration and mutual growth during the masterclass by showing every student the musical purpose behind their parts. Professor Schwartz insisted that violinists should think like singers when practicing to be able to accomplish correct phrasing and voicing. In addition, he encouraged every violinist to explore their sound through their imagination and incorporate their individuality while performing. Finally, he stated that beyond reading, and practicing the mechanics of the instrument there are specific components like style, sound colors, accurate interpretation that are only possible to accomplish if we study what is actually written in the music. This is one of the most honest ways to honor the composer’s wishes.

If you wish to keep reading and learning more about this masterclass visit our YouTube channel and enjoy professor Sergiu Schwartz Q and A.