What could be more inspiring than a room full of the world’s brightest young musicians, gathering on the shores of Lake Geneva? Those were the joyous sights and sounds I encountered in July, when I visited Switzerland as a tutor attending the annual four-day residential Summer Gathering hosted by an organisation called Classeek…

Origins

Catarina Amon is the inspiring brains behind this team, which she established in 2017. A mother of three, she has long been aware of the importance of engaging younger audiences with classical music. Indeed, she was immersed in it herself as a child, coming from a Portuguese banking family with a rich history in the arts (her great-grandfather was a renowned art collector); she has lived her life – as she puts it to me – ‘immersed in beauty, from paintings to porcelain and beyond. But it was music that truly captivated me.’

Fleeing revolution in Portugal, her family settled in Brazil in 1975. There, she says, ‘music is the heartbeat of daily life’. Everything from the Vienna New Year’s concert to the smooth rhythms of bossa nova filled their home. Plus, having fallen in love with the piano aged four listening to her great uncle play, Amon finally pursued piano seriously as an adult and finished her studies at the Conservatoire de Lausanne.

It was organising a series of private concerts that lay the groundwork for Classeek. The experience proved a startling education. ‘I witnessed first-hand the obstacles artists faced in getting established,’ Amon says. ‘I saw how their immense talent could go unnoticed simply because they didn’t learn at school what they had to do in the real world to get noticed. They weren’t connected to the right networks.’

‘The industry still relied heavily on age-old practices –relationships, word of mouth, and personal recommendations,’ she continues. ‘While these can be powerful, they often leave too much to chance. Brilliant artists were at risk of being overlooked simply because they didn’t move in the right circles. Networking was crucial, but it was fragmented; small, closed networks that didn’t always communicate with each other.’

Ambassadors: supporting young artists

This was the catalyst for Classeek. It was a souped-up version of her work hosting events before, using recommendations from musician friends to populate young artist showcase concerts. This Ambassador Programme now offers a one-year tailored career enhancement experience for young artists, nominated by respected industry figures. It now supports between eight and ten artists annually – having worked with around 40 since their inception – and has expanded to include two open application spots. Artist alumni include Giorgi Gigashvili, Elise Bertrand and Jean-Paul Gasparian, and they count Gautier Capuçon and Steven Isserlis among their illustrious collaborators. Major organisations have become partners too, including the likes of The Violin Channel, Idagio, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).

I saw this collaborative spirit in action in July. Industry workshops were dotted between chamber music sessions and individual practice in idyllic surroundings, and the week culminated in a public concert. Tutors led workshops covering everything from music-specific questions of repertoire and performance to ‘business’ aspects like management, competitions, and – with yours truly – how to work with the media and ‘present yourself’.

Embracing digital innovation

That emphasis on the practical aspects of a career is also something explored in the podcast, Classeek 15', which I host alongside fellow Gramophone contributor Charlotte Gardner and writer Michael Beek. In my last year as its presenter, I’ve welcomed Julian Lloyd Webber to discuss overcoming injury; Rodney Friend shared memories of playing under Bernstein as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic; Ragnhild Hemsing discussed folk and classical and how to find your repertoire ‘unique selling point’; and my Scala Radio/Magic Classical colleague Jo Wilson shared what a radio station’s Head of Music looks for in a new release or artist, ready for playlisting. For many years, I felt that I was having many helpful conversations with colleagues and friends in rehearsal breaks and after shows; it felt important that other young musicians could benefit from these coffee-break chats.

It’s this spirit of encouraging entrepreneurship that Amon has put at the heart of Classeek. Their digital press kit allows young artists to share their professional profiles with promoters and industry professionals; this has evolved into ClasseekLink, an open online community where any artist, anywhere in the world, can sign up for free. Today, it features over 1600 profiles and 600 active users, and has been adopted by the Verbier Festival Academy for its exclusive private group communications.

Their latest launch: Insights by Classeek

Now, Classeek are upping the ante on their use of tech to offer privileged behind-the-scenes access and networks. Their latest launch is Insights by Classeek, a premium video library that gives subscribers access to exclusive extended interviews with leaders in the classical profession. It’s a deep-dive in long-form, with the best-respected industry voices.

The opening series focuses on an area that’s little-discussed: media and PR. So often, university courses teach students about the technical aspects of performance but not about the practical questions of how to make a career. The car is built, but you’re not taught how to drive it. Insights by Classeek addresses that. It means that rather unusually, journalists are not the ones doing the interviewing, but the ones being interviewed…

Series One has eight episodes and nearly six hours of content, hosted by Benjamin Woodroffe and featuring brands like Gramophone, Medici TV and The Violin Channel. There’s the latter’s founder, Geoffrey John Davies; arts consultant Patricia Price exploring personal PR strategy; Pianist magazine editor Erica Worth talking social media; founder and CEO of Medici TV Hervé Boissière talking tech and good programming; Remy Franck (Pizzicato Editor-in-Chief and ICMA President) on speaking with the recording industry; Jessica Lustig on networking; Lucerne Festival commercial director Danièle Gross explaining how a festival is run sustainably; and there’s a familiar face in James Jolly, Editor Emeritus of Gramophone.

The latter episode explores how this magazine makes decisions about which artists to cover and what stories to tell. In effect, how did this Gramophone blog come to exist – and if you wanted to be featured, how would you get here? Along the way, Jolly provides advice on how to approach an interview; given some of the big artists I’ve interviewed freely admit they remain truly terrified about the process, this advice should appeal to a wide audience.

Music journalism is just the first series in this high-calibre new library. Future topics will explore everything from Agencies and Promoters to Recording Labels and Platforms.

In an increasingly noisy and chaotic world for young artists, Classeek are helping join the dots and take young people seriously. Browse their website and see how they dedicate whole pages to the artists they support, and offer full interviews with them, just as they do the senior industry experts on Insights by Classeek. That sets an important example that young artists have big voices and deserve a big platform. With Classeek’s ever-expanding work, those voices will only grow louder.

Insights By Classeek is available for £95 at insights.classeek.com. Gramophone readers are offered a 10% discount for a limited time, using the code Gramophone10