For our jubilee year we have been all the more anxious to attract world class course tutors to Wörgl again and they have all willingly agreed. And so this year we are able to welcome Konrad JARNOT, Christa LUDWIG, Grace BUMBRY and Thomas QUASTHOFF who is teaching in one of our master courses for the first time and we warmth welcome him for the first time! It is our intention to offer a fantastic platform for aspiring young artists who will be able to gain so much from the rich treasure trove of experience in the various master classes.

It is now twenty five years ago that, under the most difficult circumstances, the International Master Classes for Singing were founded at Academia Vocalis in Wörgl. In the years since then we have provided not only opera master classes but also gospel, jazz and rapso workshops, evening events with an emphasis on folk music and above all courses for children who will face a particular challenge in four year’s ago continuing project, the children’s opera “The Jungle Book”. Places on all of these courses have been keenly taken up.

Participants from far and wide - last year, for example, when some of the course participants from Austria and our neighbouring countries, but also from the USA, China, Japan, Korea, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Romania, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, England, Hungaria, Turkey, Greece made a special journey just to attend - create a colourful mix of cultures and viewpoints so that a vibrant intellectual exchange can take place from which in the final analysis everyone profits.

It was, however, not just the origins of Academia Vocalis, the master classes, the concerts and the closing concerts of the master classes, but also the many events and related contributions, all of them deserving of a wider audience, which convinced us that it would be worthwhile publishing a book to celebrate our 20th anniversary which took place five years ago. But a book with not only a serious and worthwhile content, but also with lots of humorous material on the theme of “singing”.

So, take a careful look at our richly varied programme and it would be our pleasure to be able to welcome you either back to Wörgl or here for the first time!

Director

ACADEMIA VOCALIS