László Fassang to teach at the Paris Conservatoire from autumn
The head of the organ department of the Liszt Academy won the post in improvisation performance skills at the Paris institution; he takes up the appointment from the start of the next academic year. He has hopes of nurturing numerous joint projects between the two academies.
The famed Paris institution advertised the post following the retirement of its current holder, Philippe Lefebvre, organist at Notre Dame, said László Fassang. He went on to say that the selection process was conducted in two rounds: the candidates shortlisted by the first jury were invited to give a test lecture and then they were interviewed, after which the final decision was made. The organist received the positive news in a letter from the director of the music academy.
This is the first time that a foreign teacher has been appointed to the organ department of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. "César Franck was Belgian, but one of the reasons he had to take on French citizenship was precisely so that he could teach here. Naturally, I don't have to do the same thing; symbolically, the decision marks a new chapter in the life of the faculty," said the 40-year-old musician, who added that the renowned music academy rejected the 14-year-old Liszt's application to join the piano department because he was not French.
In Paris, the professor will be teaching the subject ‘improvisation on keyboard instrument' from September, exclusively for organists on the BA course, and for organists and pianists on the MA course. His term of appointment is open-ended. "Officially I have to teach four classes a week, but in all likelihood I will only be going out there on average every two or three weeks, and I will then give several classes at the same time," said László Fassang, who hopes that he will act as a link between the Liszt Academy in Budapest and the Paris Conservatoire, so that numerous joint projects can be realized by the two institutions of higher education.