mco academy

Since 2009, the MCO Academy has offered an educational model that provides young musicians with a high-quality orchestral experience and a unique platform for networking and international exchange. In addition to audition training, individual coaching and orchestral playing, the Academy also includes chamber music workshops which emphasize the MCO’s characteristic chamber music approach to music-making. Complemented by a mentoring programme, career talks and further activities, the Academy fosters creative and independent thinking and offers a comprehensive and modern approach for professional musicians of the 21st century.

The MCO Academy was founded in collaboration with the Orchesterzentrum│NRW in Germany and has grown to include partner institutions from five countries. This project is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the Federal State of NRW, Germany. Partnering concert halls are the Konzerthaus Dortmund, Kölner Philharmonie and Philharmonie Essen. For more information about the Academy, please click here.

To get in touch about the MCO Academy, please contact Valentina Katharina Georgoulopoulos at +49 30 41 71 79 – 18 or by e-mail at valentina@mahlerchamber.com

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

The MCO Academy centres around an annual orchestra project in Germany and may involve further activities throughout the year. An application for the MCO Academy is linked with enrollment at one of our partner institutions:

• Orchesterzentrum | NRW (including its partner conservatories in Cologne, Detmold, Düsseldorf and Essen)
  Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya (JONC)
  Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)
  Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)
  Filarmónica Joven de Colombia (FJC)

If you are a student at one of the institutions mentioned above and would like to apply for the MCO Academy, please get in touch with the administration at your institution directly to learn more about the application process. Auditions are held at these institutions once a year and are sometimes combined with coaching by members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. All Academy students are selected by the MCO.

After participating in the MCO Academy, highly qualified students may be offered an Academy scholarship to play with the MCO on a regular tour.

The next MCO Academy project will take place in April 2023. For the first time ever, the Academy will be based on an opera: "Lessons in Love and Violence" by George Benjamin. The composer will conduct all performances in Dortmund, Essen, Cologne and Brussels. More information about the performances can be found here.