Prof. C. Federico Sepúlveda

Job title/activity of the person
Member Management Board Schola Cantorum Basiliensis,
Head of Programmes MA in Music Performance, Specialised Masters Improvisation and Thoroughbass,
MAS AVES,
Scholarships

Contact

Phone: +41 61 261 57 57
E-Mail: federico.sepulveda@fhnw.ch

Address

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis,
Leonhardsstrasse 6,
4009 Basel

Room

Provisorium Letzi 95-214

Key data

Activities

Member Management Board Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a centre of expertise in the study of historical music performance, from the early Middle Ages right up to the 19th century. Here, teaching neatly dovetails with research and performance practice.

Head of programme

Master of Arts

MA Music Performance | Early Music Renaissance - Romantic

This degree programme imparts a broad understanding of the stylistic and aesthetic aspects of music, enabling students to engage in-depth with historical sources and theory, as well as a reflective playing and singing techniques: the essential skills needed not only to preserve historically informed performance practice, but also to convey it in a lively and contemporary way. The programme builds on a bachelor’s degree from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis or a comparable BA and offers an alternative curriculum for university graduates from other music programmes.

MA Specialised Music Performance | Early Music Thoroughbass

This programme is aimed at qualified keyboard players, preferably harpsichordists, with a strong foundation in thoroughbass and the best instrumental, theoretical and creative skills in baroque music. The programme uses the special skills of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis to further develop the acquired skills. The thoroughbass training is combined with ensemble work and conducting. A broad understanding of stylistic and aesthetic aspects as well as an in-depth examination of historical sources and theory round off the profile.

MA Specialised Music Performance | Early Music instrumental improvisation

Composing music in the contemporary musical language was an essential skill for all well-qualified musicians until well into the 19th century. The improvisational approach played a decisive role in the programme and forms the basis of the master’s degree in Improvisation at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Improvisation in its various forms is central to historical music practice. This is where almost all the skills acquired in early music flow together. In addition to contemporary descriptions and methods, traditional compositions are essential and often the only sources for the unscripted practice of certain epochs. Stylistic composition is therefore a central element of the degree programme, as are improvisation in the ensemble, questions of methodological teaching and performance-related aspects.

MAS Aves

Career

Professional career

Carlos Federico Sepúlveda, born and raised in Medellín (Colombia), studied with Cecilia Espinosa and Lise Frank at the Instituto Musical Diego Echavarría in Medellín. He then completed studies in choral conducting and orchestral conducting with Urs Lajovic, Günther Theuring, Erwin Ortner and Johannes Prinz at the Musikuniversität Wien, graduating with honors in 2001. In 2005 he completed postgraduate studies in early music theory at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since then he has been active at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis as a lecturer in theory subjects and as director of musical projects. He is the program director of the Master in Music Performance, the Specialized Master, as well as the MAS AVES (Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies). From 2016-2022 he acted as deputy to Thomas Drescher, director of the SCB. Since September 2022 he has been a member of the collaborative management of the Schola.

Federico Sepúlveda has been instrumental in bringing historical performance practice to greater prominence in music education in Colombia: He is the initiator of the master's degree in music at the Universidad Central in Bogotá, with a strong focus on the historical context. He was also the artistic director of the educational project "Música antigua para nuestro tiempo" (Early Music for our time) in Colombia, which was carried out for over 15 years by the Schola Cantorum and the Banco de la República. These and other projects under his direction paved the way for a wide range of opportunities to perform early music in Colombia.

Sepúlveda has conducted the Vienna Chamber Choir, the Orchestra of the City of Granada, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bratislava Radio Orchestra and the Yucatán Symphony Orchestra, among others. He works with numerous choirs and ensembles and is the director of the ensemble Ars Humana. Since the foundation of La Cetra Vokalensemble Basel in 2012, he has been its director / maestro al coro. Historical approaches in music education for children are of special interest to him, for example in specific projects in collaboration with the Instituto Musical Diego Echavarría, as well as in the project of the SCB Music School "Oy...cantemos!"-learning music as it was 500 years ago.

Prof. C. Federico Sepúlveda,