The Karajan Academy is a music academy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, associated with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

, that trains young orchestral musicians.

Background

The Academy is a non-profit organization, financed by donations; its work is supported by a voluntary board and an advisory board. Originally named the ''Orchester-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker'', it was founded in 1972 by

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

(1908–1989), conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, to train young musicians for the orchestra. Those whose musical education was mostly based on a solo repertoire could improve themselves in the community of the orchestra's musicians."Karajan-Akademie: Lernen von den Profis"
''Berliner Philharmoniker''. Retrieved 2 December 2020."Berliner Philharmoniker: Orchester-Akademie nach Karajan benannt"
''Musik Heute'', 24 May 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2020. In May 2017, at a meeting of the orchestra, it was agreed that the Academy would be renamed after Herbert von Karajan.

The course

About a third of the current members of the Berlin Philharmonic have come through from the Academy. The two-year course, available for players of all orchestral instruments, is at the same time a postgraduate course and an internship. The student receives personal tuition, usually from the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

or section leader; regularly takes part in orchestral rehearsals and concerts; becomes familiar with chamber music, of which the repertoire includes classic, romantic and classic modern works; and is trained to prepare for auditions."Ausbildungskonzept"
''Berliner Philharmoniker''. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

References

{{Authority control Berlin Philharmonic Music schools in Germany Universities and colleges in Berlin 1972 establishments in West Germany