Live concerts with audience are already back in Grafenegg for a while – and now it is also certain that the wide-ranging activities of Campus Grafenegg, which attracts participants from all over the world, can take place as planned in 2021. The innovative Grafenegg Academy will be curated by Håkan Hardenberger and Colin Currie.
Initially known mainly for the Grafenegg Festival, the cultural location of Grafenegg initiated Campus Grafenegg in 2018. The Grafenegg programme has always included activities aiming to promote young talents, with Campus Grafenegg, this has become a brand itself for fostering excellence, supporting and encouraging young musicians from all over the world at the start of their careers. The aim of Campus Grafenegg is to expose young professional musicians to new perspectives and to offer inspiration as they enter their professional careers.
State Governor of Lower Austria, johanna Mikl-Leitner: „In Grafenegg, the past and future enter into a symbiosis. This extraordinary cultural location is thereby representative of Lower Austria’s values of preserving history and tradition, while at the same time actively contributing to shaping the future. Campus Grafenegg has made it its goal to support young musicians as they embark on their careers, and to help shape a sustainable future for music and the music industry.”
Grafenegg’s Managing Director, Philipp Stein: „With Campus Grafenegg we are creating an international hub for tomorrows generation of musicians. There is a tremendous amount of upheaval at the moment and it is not only the pandemic that will change the musical landscape in the long term. We are committed to helping young artists on their way, and to playing an active role in the future of the music industry. Grafenegg, with its different venues, rehearsal rooms, and overnight accommodation provided by the Grafenegg Cottages, offers the perfect environment for Campus Grafenegg’s wide ranging curriculum.”
The central pillars of Campus Grafenegg are the Grafenegg Academy and the composer conductor- workshop INK STILL WET. In 2021, the Grafenegg Academy and the Grafenegg Academy Orchestra, which each year is made up of new international musicians, will be led by Håkan Hardenberger and Colin Currie.
„Grafenegg Academy is very important at this point in time for the discussion of the future. The future has not happened yet. We can really make our culture more relevant, more important, more satisfying, more uplifting, more thought provoking than ever. It’s these kinds of thoughts we try to ‘infuse’ into our younger friends. Grafenegg Academy is basically a huge musical think tank”, the two curators explain.
The Grafenegg Academy will take place from 12 to 25 july 2021, culminating in two concert days on 18 and 25 july 2021.
The composer conductor-workshop INK STILL WET will take place from 13 to 20 August 2021 under the direction of this year’s Composer in Residence, Toshio Hosokawa. The workshop focusses on working together on pieces by participating composers and developing them with the Tonkunstler Orchestra. The highlight of the workshop will be the final concert on 20 August 2021 in Grafenegg. Admission is free. Through INK STILL SET, the Campus Grafenegg is an associated partner of ricordilab, the international support programme of the music publisher Ricordi Berlin.
As a platform and network for the promotion of outstanding musical talent, the Campus Grafenegg has for several years also maintained close partnerships with the European Union Youth Orchestra, the European Chamber Music Academy and Music & Art School Management Lower Austria. These nourishing partnerships enable the Campus Grafenegg to promote excellence in a wide range of areas. The results are regularly seen and heard as brilliant concerts in Grafenegg.
