I have now been living in Germany for just over two years and this is quite possibly only the first or maybe second chance I have had to travel to another city without a trombone or two on my back.
Although Professor Kraft is unknown internationally, his class within Germany is very highly respected and he is considered one of the top orchestral trombonists, playing principal trombone in the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. On my first trip I could speak enough German to order a beer or two and recite the alphabet. The lessons I had with Professor Kraft at this time, although in German, were some of the most enlightening I had ever had.
Upon my return to Australia, with the help of my girlfriend and Google translate, I wrote to Professor Kraft asking to study with him. In June the next year I returned, auditioned and received a position to study for a masters degree at the school. It was only 18 months later that I found out that Professor Kraft spoke almost perfect English. My first task as a student at the school was to learn German. The Hochschule has a minimum requirement of B2 German, which is a semi-fluent standard.
I enrolled in an intensive language course that ran up until the beginning of semester and also made a decision to only speak German wherever I went. Two or three nights a week I found myself at the local pub, doing my homework after a few too many beers. Naturally, learning German from trombonists meant I could swear better than most locals within a matter of weeks.
The focus is primarily on individual lessons and ensemble. It is not uncommon to have three or four hours of individual lessons per week and five hours of ensemble.
