PHILIP A. DRAGANOV

The training of particularly young talents has been matter of personal importance for Philip A. Draganov for around 25 years.

He has been teaching in Switzerland since 2006, first at the Winterthur Conservatory and then from 2007 at the Zurich Conservatory.

Draganov believes that certain aspects of violin technique must be learned by the age of 10, others by the age of 15, and others by the age of 18 or 19.

"Unfortunately, there is a widespread misconception that you learn to play the violin at university," says Draganov.

«Anyone who has not learned the technical basics of playing the violin before entering the music academy will in most cases no longer learn it there. University studies are usually about other things.”

In all countries of Eastern Europe, children from the age of 10 to 12 go to so-called "special schools", analogous to sports.

In Asia they attend “Arts High Schools and in America there are already 8-year-olds in a pre-college. All of these students are taught by university professors from a very young age.

“Despite the complex Swiss school system, it is important to find ways to be competitive with children and young people from these countries, because globalization in the labor market does not stop at the music world. The situation today is different than it was 30 years ago,” says Draganov.

Almost all soloists in the classical music scene, whether Itzhak Perlman, Midori or Sarah Chang in the USA or Julia Fischer, Frank Peter Zimmermann or Maxim Vengerov in Europe, were professionally trained by university professors at a very young age.

Philip A. Draganov devotes one day of the week to these young talents at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich.

«In this training segment, it is important to find a good mix between seriousness and motivation. It is important that the students never forget why they make music. It's the most beautiful thing in the world, and if you can do something well, you have even more joy!"

Many of his former students, who took lessons from him at the age of 9 or 10, now play in the leading European orchestras, including David Nebel (1st concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra), Hani Song (Berlin State Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim). ) or Laura-Delia Knecht (Frankfurt am Main Opera).

His current student Raphael Nussbaumer, winner of numerous competitions, became a member of this class at the age of seven.

Philip A. Draganov's violin class has a long history of success at the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW). The students have won first prizes every year since 2007, and first prizes with distinction every year from 2012 to 2022.

In the last solo evaluations in 2016, 2018 and 2022 (no competition in 2020 due to lockdown in the pandemic), the Draganov violin class was the class with the most prizes and most 1st prizes of all instrumental classes and all violin classes in Switzerland.

At the German competition "Jugend musiziert" as well as at the Austrian edition "Prima la musica", Philip A. Draganov's students won several gold medals and first federal prizes.

Draganov does not give lessons for beginners. Students from the age of about 9 (in exceptional cases earlier) who have already mastered the basics of playing the violin (position playing, vibrato, first types of bowings) can apply for a place in the class.

The offer is aimed at parents who want professional training for their children at an early age and are willing to support this accordingly.

Early contact is recommended.

The registration deadline for a place in the spring semester (from February) is December 15th and for the summer semester (from the end of August) it is May 31st.

Participation in the “Förderprogramm” at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich gives you the opportunity to attend interesting courses and get more opportunities to perform.

If desired, the training can be continued in the "PreCollege MKZ" until entry into the music university.