Academy

Professionals for the 21st century

In 2015, The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen founded an academy for young musicians with the aim to prepare outstanding, visionary instrumentalists for successful careers as musicians in the cultural landscape of the 21st century – in a world-class orchestra.

During their two years with the academy, the students are closely involved in all aspects of orchestral life and participate in all of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s major projects, including international tours, concerts with well-known soloists and CD recordings. They are also actively involved in the Future Lab concert series. Another highlight is undoubtedly working closely with Artistic Director Paavo Järvi.

The artistic curriculum also includes masterclasses with specialists in performance practice, chamber music and individual tuition with members of the Kammerphilharmonie. In addition to this, the academy students are encouraged to take part in contemporary music projects as well as organize and perform their own concerts and CD recordings. Each academy student is individually mentored by a member of the orchestra.

History of the Academy’s foundation

Promoting the best

Founded in September 2015, the aim of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Academy is to empower young, well-educated graduates to unlock their potential and equip them with the tools they need to successfully master the challenges of 21st century cultural life. In this context, an innovating spirit and the embracing of new forms, combined with entrepreneurial courage, are becoming increasingly important.

The founding of the Academy can be traced back to the special connection between The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the long-standing Bremen patron Annelotte Koch. Her artistic judgement, honed for many years – although not exclusively – at the Salzburg Festival, always focused on outstanding performance with, at the same time, an eye to promoting young talent. After her death, her son Ralf Koch made it his mission to keep the sponsorship of musical talent alive in his mother’s memory. The Heinz-Peter and Annelotte Koch Foundation, of which he is chairman, provides the underlying funding for this very special academy, which is in the meantime supported by additional benefactors from all over Germany.

Training concept

Oriented towards the future

The Academy’s alternative training concept aims to close a gap in the German higher education landscape and through practical seminars encourage young musicians to tackle questions about the future of classical music concerts. Alongside artistic and interdisciplinary topics, seminars deal with issues such as musicians’ health and aspects of orchestra management, with Academy members playing a hands-on, active role in social and educational projects, as well as study trips and workshops with international experts.

One key facet of this unusual programme is the close cooperation with the Alfred Toepfer Foundation F.V.S. as part of the Concerto21 Summer Academy. Curated by Martin Tröndle, Andreas Brandis and Folkert Uhde, this academy incorporates expert treatment of all the essential aspects of modern concert programming and 21st century artistic management, as well as the entire spectrum of peripheral topics from marketing and PR to audience research, dramaturgy and the effective handling of light and space.

A further cooperation partner is the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the top orchestra auditioned from the best students from German-speaking conservatoires which is based in Frankfurt am Main. The Academy members have the opportunity to participate in the JDP’s tours and concert projects, thus completing a historic cycle, as The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen evolved from the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie back in 1980.

The Academy members

They are young, highly talented and during their intensive two-year training become involved in many of the orchestra’s projects: get to know our academy students better!

The alumni

Our former academy musicians.

to our alumni

Final Recital of the Academy’s 3rd Year Players

Every Academy year gives a final recital which is organised by the academy instrumentalists themselves – a taste of the skills acquired during their two years of training. Unfortunately, the 3rd Final Recital fell victim to the pandemic. This was the inspiration for the instrumentalists’ digital project ›ent:stehen‹. The four academy players – Alma Micke, Teresa Simone, Nadja Reich und Sebastian Steinhilber – have broken new ground in their decision to produce a piece incorporating elements of concert, performance and film.

To the video

Contact

For further inquiries and questions

Director of Academy
Winnie Finke
akademie@kammerphilharmonie.com

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