The following list comprises several summer music festivals. This collection does not include every festival out there, but presents a selection of the most respected and well-attended festivals around the world.
This key is used throughout this list to help present detailed information for each entry.
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| Free to attend | Scholarships/fellowships available | No age restrictions |
General/orchestra
Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen is one of the most prestigious festivals in the country, and has over six-hundred students. Aspen focuses on orchestral performance, but includes programs is solo and collaborative piano, conducting, composition, chamber music, contemporary performance, and classical guitar.
Brevard offers programs in piano, orchestra studies, composition, and opera, and is open to all students under the age of 29. Students have weekly lessons, and are encouraged to attend all master classes. There are also weekly recitals, where students may perform solo or chamber music repertoire.
Bowdoin International Music Festival
This festival offers an instrumental program for violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, harp, percussion, and piano. They also offer a woodwind program that includes clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, and horn. There is a composition program, but this festival does not feature a student orchestra.
This festival blends music, dance, opera, theater, visual arts, a lecture series, and leisure activities for a unique educational experience. There are conducting fellowships and general work study positions available to applicants. Chautauqua runs for seven weeks each summer and accepts students ages 17-25.
Colorado College Summer Music Festival
This three-week festival sits at the base of Pikes Peak, offering students a beautiful setting to study orchestral, chamber, and solo music repertoire. All participants receive full tuition scholarships that cover room, board and tuition. Students are also offered classes on orchestral auditions, improvisation, and side-by-side performance opportunities with the professional faculty.
This month-long program focuses on orchestral repertoire, and is open to students ages 14-22. Students will receive private lessons, sectional coachings, and have the opportunity to participate in master classes. In addition to orchestra, all students will participate in chamber ensembles.
Interharmony International Music Festival
Interharmony Music Festival has three, two-week sessions each summer, two in Tuscany, Italy and one in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany. Each session is centered on a festival orchestra, but
chamber music, private lessons, and master classes are also included. Local excursions to areas
of interest are also offered for each session.
Participants will have the opportunity to work on contemporary orchestral, ensemble, and chamber music under the supervision of Pierre Boulez. This program runs for approximately one month. Each participant receives a full scholarship, covering room, board, travel, and tuition. The Lucerne Academy is limited to students under the age of 28.
Located just north of Seattle, WA the Marrowstone festival offers students ages 18-25 an intensive two-week orchestral training experiences. All students participate in chamber music ensembles, and receive private lessons. The festival offers fun excursions during the festival that allow the participants to explore the beautiful pacific northwest. Scholarships and fellowships are available.
Each student admitted to the Music Academy will spend eight weeks working with many different professionals in orchestral, chamber, solo, and even a fully staged opera. All admitted fellowship students receive full scholarships for room, board, and tuition. The Music Academy of the West is located in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.
National Orchestra Institute and Festival
This festival is located at the University Of Maryland School Of Music and is an intensive, four- week orchestral program. The National Orchestral Institute helps pre-professional musicians from 18-28 years of age, prepare for auditions and careers in the professional orchestral world. Participants do not have to pay tuition, but must pay for their own food. Housing is available for a very reasonable fee as well.
This intensive, eight-week orchestral training program is directed toward young musicians ages 18-28 who wish to pursue a career in professional orchestras. The NRO has been in existence for thirty-four years and has a reputation as one of the premier orchestra training programs in the country. In addition to master classes, students are able to attend courses offered through the NRO Career Perspectives Program, offering students’ information about musician health, injury prevention, financial planning and much more. All accepted students receive a full fellowship, covering tuition, room and board.
Philadelphia International Music Festival
This fourteen day orchestral festival gives students the opportunity to work closely with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in group and private settings. There is no age limit for the college division and scholarships are available.
This festival is six weeks long and features an impressive number of orchestral and chamber music performances for each student. All participants receive a full scholarship including room, board, and tuition. Students receive weekly private lessons from the world-renowned faculty.
This festival runs for about seventeen days in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. Spoleto is centered on the festival orchestra, but includes opera, theater, dance, and chamber, jazz, symphonic, and choral music. Audition requirements often change year to year, and are available in mid-November.
For a little over a month, students will work with members of the New York City Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing many orchestral and chamber music concerts in beautiful Verbier, Switzerland. All accepted musicians receive full tuition for room, board, and tuition.
Wintergreen Summer Music Academy
This academy is located in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, and runs for approximately one month every summer. Students are able to participate in the academy orchestra, chamber orchestra, master classes, chamber ensembles, and memorable excursions. This program offers students numerous performance opportunities, and even experience in a professional recording studio. Financial aid is available, but is not guaranteed for all students.
Brass
This one-week brass intensive includes participation in a brass ensemble, and chamber groups. Students participate in private lessons, coachings, and master classes. Acceptance into the college division includes a full scholarship including room and board.
The Art of Sound – Summer Brass Institute and Festival
This brass festival features an impressive collections of instructors, including Joseph Alessi on trombone, Robert Ward on horn, and Carol Jantsch on tuba. Students will spend twelve days rehearsing in small and large ensembles, taking private lessons, attending master classes, and performing concerts in and around Menlo Park, California. Fellowships and scholarships are available to students who wish to apply.
This horn-specific retreat offers students of varying abilities the chance to work with world- renowned hornists for one, two, or three weeks. All participants receive at least two lessons each week with different faculty members. All ages are welcome, and several scholarships are available.
