Summer music courses are not for beginners looking to improve. They are, in many cases, where professional musicians and postgraduates continue developing, connect with colleagues from across Europe, and find the teachers they cannot access during the rest of the year. The right course at the right moment can genuinely shift a performer’s trajectory.
The major European classical music courses
Mozarteum Sommerakademie (Salzburg) — Every July and August. Courses for professional and advanced-level performers across all instruments. Faculty drawn from leading orchestras and conservatories worldwide. Format: individual lessons and ensemble rehearsals. Highly prestigious and highly competitive for admission — applications typically require a recording and, in some cases, an in-person or online audition.
Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena) — Each summer in Siena, Tuscany. One of the most prestigious summer courses in Europe. Specialises in strings, piano, conducting, composition and chamber music. The setting — one of Italy’s best-preserved medieval cities — adds a dimension that extends well beyond formal tuition.
Dartington International Summer School (Devon) — England. One of the UK’s longest-running summer music schools, active since the 1940s. Broad in scope: classical, jazz, chamber music, choral, composition. The atmosphere is more communal and less competitive than many Central European courses, and it is particularly accessible for English-speaking musicians — both logistically and culturally.
For summer courses in Spain, the INAEM directory publishes music training calls throughout the year.
Early and Baroque music
Festival de Música Antigua de Daroca (Aragon, Spain) — One of Spain’s highest-level summer courses in early music. Period instruments, Baroque voice, sacred music from the Renaissance and Baroque. Particularly well attended by musicians working in pre-18th-century repertoire.
Festival de Musique Ancienne de Saintes (France) — A European reference point in early music. Courses, concerts and a high-level academic environment. Particularly strong for viol, lute, harpsichord and monodic singing. Saintes combines a public festival with intensive professional training.
Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France) — Oriented towards young opera and vocal music professionals. Highly competitive and widely recognised in the international opera world. Some alumni have moved from the programme directly into professional productions.
Bruges Early Music Festival / Musica Antiqua (Belgium) — Festival, competition and courses within the same framework. The Bruges early music competition is among the most important in the world in its field, and the summer courses run alongside it.
Jazz and world music
Siena Jazz — Italy’s best-known summer jazz course. International faculty, intensive programme, highly regarded by alumni. One of the best European options for professional or advanced-level jazz musicians.
Berklee Valencia — Berklee’s European campus hosts summer sessions and programmes. One of the few opportunities to access Berklee faculty without travelling to the United States. Oriented towards contemporary music, jazz and urban popular music.
Taller de Músics — Based in Barcelona, organises summer workshops with national and international guest teachers in jazz, modern music and world music. A very accessible option for musicians based in Catalonia or anywhere in Spain.
Contemporary and electroacoustic music
IRCAM Forum (Paris) — Intensive courses in electroacoustic music, live electronics and technology-based composition. For composers and performers working at the boundary of contemporary music and sound technology. IRCAM is the world’s leading centre for music and technology research.
Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Germany) — The summer school for contemporary music, full stop. Since the 1940s, it has defined what Western contemporary music is: Nono, Stockhausen and Boulez all passed through. Today it remains the reference framework for composers and performers of new music. Very intense, very academic.
How to apply and prepare your application
Most courses require a recording (video or audio), a letter of motivation, and in some cases an in-person or online audition. Deadlines are typically between February and April for summer courses — late applicants usually find themselves shut out or on a waiting list.
To find more options, EMCY (European Union of Music Competitions for Youth) publishes a calendar of European courses and competitions. The Music Schools in Europe directory groups institutions and courses by country and instrument.
A practical note: many courses offer partial or full scholarships for musicians with fewer resources, but this is rarely advertised prominently. It is worth asking the organisation directly when submitting your application.
More than training
The reason to attend a high-level summer course is not only the teacher. It is the peers: musicians at your level or above, from across Europe, with whom you will play informal chamber music, share the frustration of a difficult lesson and the satisfaction of the closing concert. Many professional collaborations and connections that last for years begin in a single summer week in Siena or Dartington.
What you take away from a good summer course is not a certificate. It is three or four professional relationships that will take years to bear fruit, and the confidence of knowing that what you do has a place in the real musical world.
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- Classical music and opera route through Europe
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