DARMSTÄDTER FERIENKURSE
Darmstadt Summer Course has been there for 80 years.
Surrounded by antlers and hunting paintings, the very first piece of music of the Ferienkurse für internationale neue Musik – what the Darmstadt Summer Course was called in their early years – was performed on the morning of 25 August 1946 at Kranichstein Hunting Lodge. Following an address by Darmstadt’s mayor Julius Reiber, Conrad Beck’s Serenade for Flute, Clarinet and String Orchestra marked the beginning of an event that would go on to gain enormous international significance over the following eight decades, firmly placing Darmstadt on the map of new music.
In the immediate aftermath of the war, Wolfgang Steinecke, Darmstadt’s cultural affairs officer, began planning the first edition of an event that would develop a major international reach over the following decades, establishing Darmstadt as a prominent center for new music.
80 years: Looking back is also a commitment to continuing this unique history into the future. The next edition of the Darmstadt Summer Courses will be presented from 10 to 24 July 2027.
Juana Zimmermann offers a different perspective on the early years of the Darmstadt Summer Course: In her research, she focuses on women who played various roles in the courses between 1946 and 1961.
Two-week festival, international summer academy, discourse platform and artistic laboratory – the next Darmstadt Summer Course will take place from 10 to 24 July 2027.
Recap Darmstädter Ferienkurse 2025
THE DARMSTADT SUMMER COURSE IS…
Presented every two years by Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD), the Darmstadt Summer Course is an international platform for contemporary and experimental musical practices and composition: it is summer academy, festival and discourse platform at the same time and a meeting point of composers, interpreters, performers, sound artists and scholars. Since 1946, the Darmstadt Summer Course has been aiming at bringing together strong musical and aesthetic positions, providing a framework for high-level performance and discourse, a lively international network and an inspiring experience for our participants and guests.
