1 – The Winter Academy of Music is being presented by Internationale Sommerakademie Lüneburger Heide e.V.. It will take place in its 6th edition from December 12 – 18, 2022, and is primarily addressing music students and young musicians engaging in professional music education. It takes place in Uelzen, Germany, and surrounding communities. In principal, there is no upper age limit. However, music studies should not have been finished earlier than three years prior to the Winter Academy. The Artisic Director may make exceptions from this rule on an individual basis. All materials will be checked by a committee and applicants will be selected for participation according to their qualification.
2 – The course fee is 750 Euros. It includes:
- four lessons (two with Bernd Goetzke, and two with Hinrich Alpers)
- the opportunity to participate in the Piano Concerto project (rehearsals and performance with the Lüneburg Symphony Orchestra – see #3)
- on-campus accomodation (Youth Hostel standard)
- full board
- on-campus practising facilities at the music school of Uelzen
- local transportation to lesson and concert venues.
Lessons and performances will take place in Uelzen and surrounding communities. All necessary local transportation will be organized according to need and will be free for the participants. Participants are responsible for their travel to Uelzen. The Winter Academy will provide detailed travel information on request. The course fee is all inclusive and there will be no refund if participants make use of only part of the offered service (for example, but not limited to: no participation in the piano concerto project, lesss meals due to late arrival or early departure etc.). Travel scholarships may be granted upon request.
3 – Participation in the Piano Concerto project is optional and not mandatory – it is possible to participate in the Winter Academy of Music with solo repertory only. The Winter Academy of Music is partnering with the Lüneburg Symphony Orchestra and the Conductor’s Forum by the German Music Council for the Piano Concerto project. Participants may select from three piano concertos which will be rehearsed in collaboration with conductors – first on two pianos, then for outstanding performers with orchestra. The Artistic Director and partners of the Piano Concerto project will decide together which soloists will be selected to perform with orchestra in concert on December 17 in the Lüneburg Theater.
The following works may be selected:
- Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 f minor op. 21
- Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto a minor op. 16
- Sergej Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto c minor op. 18
4 – It is possible to commute to Uelzen (f.e. from Hamburg or Hanover), and for those who commute the Artistic Administration will adjust lesson schedules in order to help with individual needs. We recommend everybody to be in touch with us directly so that individual solutions can be found. Considering that the Summer Academy of Music has taken place under Corona conditions without any problems since 2020, we find us able to offer the same service to all participants of the Winter Academy.
5 – Due to the current situation, the Winter Academy will take place under the following rules:
- all participants will self-test at their own responsibility for the Covid-19 virus before traveling to Uelzen. If the test is positive, participation in the Winter Academy is not possible.
- all participants will self-test upon arrival in Uelzen and again on the second day of the Winter Academy. Participants that develop typical Covid-19 symptoms during the Winter Academy will also be tested immediately. All the aforementioned tests will be provided free of charge. In case of a positive test, participation in the Winter Academy will no longer be possible, however the application fee will be refunded in part (according to the length of stay until the time of the positive test)
- It is expected that everybody wears a mask at all times when inside buildings.
- The current Covid-19 rules regarding public health safety issued by the State of Lower Saxony apply at all times.
Applications are accepted online at www.summeracademyofmusic.com. As the number of spaces for participants is limited, a preselection may be necessary, based on the submitted application material. For this purpose, a video containing repertory freely chosen by the applicant needs to be submitted (either on Youtube or other free platforms). Applicants who are under age must provide a short statement of agreement of a parent or legal guardian.
A request to all applicants: please try to make sure that the size of email attachments (photos, scans etc.) does not exceed the size of 1 MB.
6 – The Summer Academy of Music can be reached at:
Internationale Sommerakademie Lüneburger Heide e.V.
Schulstrasse 13
29559 Wrestedt, Germany
post@summeracademyofmusic.com
Our banking details are:
Name of the bank | Sparkasse Uelzen-Lüchow-Dannenberg
Address of the bank | Veersser Strasse 42, 29525 Uelzen, Germany
IBAN | DE57 2585 0110 0230 0218 34
SWIFT-BIC | NOLADE21UEL
7 – The application deadline is November 15, 2021. The application is binding. It is only valid after all necessary documents (see # 5) have arrived and the application fee of 700 Euros has been received by Internationale Sommerakademie Lüneburger Heide e.V. on its bank account (see # 6). Money transfer fees will be paid by the applicant. All applicants will be notified by email as soon as their application has been received. They will be notified by November 20, 2022 whether or not they have been accepted as participants.
8 – It is the participants’ own responsibility to obtain visa if necessary. On request, the Winter Academy is able to send letters of invitation prior to the application deadline to applicants who need extra time to apply for visa. However, those letters will be provided for convenience and are not to be considered an official confirmation of participation yet.
9 – Applicants who have not been accepted will receive their application fee (less 50 Euros handling fee) back. Upon withdrawal by a participant, the application fee (less 50 Euros handling fee) will be refunded only if the space can be given to another applicant. The Covid-19 situation is described under #5.
10 – Place of jurisdiction is Uelzen. This English translation of the terms of condition has been provided for convenience. In case of any dispute, the German version shall be binding.