Lucerne Festival Academy 2025

Would you like to focus on contemporary music and work with outstanding performers? Then apply to join the Lucerne Festival Academy! In the summer of 2025, you will have the opportunity to work with such conductors as Vimbayi Kaziboni, Jonathan Nott, David Robertson, and Elena Schwarz, as well as soloists including Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the two “artistes étoiles” of Lucerne’s Summer Festival: the violist Tabea Zimmermann and the performer and composer Winnie Huang. One focus will be on works using electronics by composer-in-residence Marco Stroppa. We will celebrate the 100th birthday of the Academy’s founder, Pierre Boulez, by studying and performing pathbreaking works: in addition to Répons, Figures – Doubles – Prismes, and Notations for orchestra, the program includes the revival of Poésie pour pouvoir, a work that Boulez withdrew from his catalogue. In addition, you will prepare brand-new pieces by Dieter Ammann, Chaya Czernowin, Dai Fujikura, and Olga Neuwirth, among others, many of which will receive their world premieres.

For over 20 years, the Lucerne Festival Academy has enabled talented young musicians from all over the world to dedicate themselves to the music of our time. Over a period of three weeks, you will work on a diverse repertoire that ranges from the milestones of the 20th and 21st centuries to brand-new scores. Leading performers of contemporary music serve as coaches and offer in-depth workshops. The Lucerne Festival Contemporary Leaders, who are former Academy members, will also be on hand as mentors during rehearsals to pass on their experience. All participants of the Academy play in the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) and additionally join together in various ensembles to perform events as part of the Festival’s related programming.

The programs for the Lucerne Festival Academy 2025 were developed under the direction of Wolfgang Rihm who died in July 2024.