ABOUT
ABOUT
The Vienna Summer Music Festival aims to provide its participants with the highest quality of instruction taught by renowned faculty from such institutions as the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, and Vienna Symphony. Festival participants will engage in performances, coachings, master classes, academic classes, and lessons. The Vienna Summer Music Festival is an experience that will expose participants to an entirely new level of professionalism, and will prepare students for a career in classical music.
VSMF 2026 SEASON
Singers. Instrumentalists. Choral/Instrumental Conductors. Music Educators. & Composers.
This year’s program celebrates the depth and diversity of the performing arts with a dynamic lineup that spans opera, musical theatre, orchestral, chamber, and choral works. Audiences and participants alike will have the opportunity to experience an extraordinary range of repertoire across the festival’s many stages.
Complete repertoire details can be found below. For prospective participants, application guidelines and requirements are provided on each program’s dedicated page.
Program and Repertoire
Vocal Repertoire
Who can apply?
Singers, Music Ed. Majors, Conductors, Composers
Operas: Carmen, Magic Flute, Suor Angelica
Musical Theatre: Nine the Musical
Major Work: Mozart Requiem
Choral Works: Cantique de Jean Racine, Faure; Sicut Cervus, Palestrina; O Schöne Nacht, Brahms; Lord, In Thee Have I Trusted (from Dettingen Te Deum), Handel; O Love, Hagenberg; I am Loved, Harris; Ain’a That Good News, Dawson; Can We Sing the Darkness to Light, Pederson; Earth Song, Ticheli; Even When God Is Silent, Horvit; For You I Will Be an Island OR They Are Mother, Cook
Instrumental Repertoire
Who can apply?
Instrumentalists, conductors, Composers
Masterworks Orchestral Concert I:
Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 8 in Bm Unfinished
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 6 in F Pastoral
Johann Strauss II – Emperor’s Waltz
Masterworks Orchestral II:
Felix Mendelssohn – Nocturno
Richard Strauss – Serenade in Eb
Igor Stravinsky – Octet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem
Chamber Strings: (to be selected from)
Franz Joseph Haydn – Quartet Op. 76 No. 3 in C Emperor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Quartet in Gm K. 478
Ludwig van Beethoven – Quartet No. 15 in Am Op. 132
Franz Schubert – Quartet No. 14 in Dm Death and the Maiden
Antonín Dvořák – Quartet No. No. 12 in F Op. 96 American
Dmitri Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8 in Cm Op. 110
Wind Chamber Music: (to be selected from)
Carl Nielsen – Wind Quintet, Op. 43
Samuel Barber – Summer Music Op. 31
Eric Ewazen – Colchester Fantasy
Györgi Ligeti – Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet
Paul Taffanel – Quintette pour instruments à vent
Giovanni Gabrieli – Works for Brass
Anton Reicha – Qind Quintet in Eb Op. 88, No. 2
Lalo Schifrin – La Nouvelle Orleans
Operas:
Claude Bizet – Carmen
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Magic Flute
Giacomo Puccini – Suor Angelica
VSMF PROGRAMS
Participants of the instrumental program will perform in our large/small chamber music concerts, symphonic concerts, operas, attend masterclasses, and work with members of the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Symponiker
The Choral Symposium at Vienna Summer Music Festival offers two weeks of intensive study for aspiring vocalists and educators, providing rigorous training in technique, conducting, and pedagogy within Vienna’s vibrant cultural setting.
The Opera Composition Program immerses emerging composers in mentorship, dramatic writing, and orchestration, culminating in a staged workshop premiere providing essential training, guidance, and performance opportunities in opera and musical theater.
Assistant Conductors gain unparalleled experience working with Vienna State Opera and Vienna Symphoniker faculty, assisting and conducting across instrumental and vocal programs while developing artistry, leadership, and professional excellence.
Artistic & Administrative
Please meet the Artistic & Administrative Leaders of the Vienna Summer Music Festival.
Vincent Connor
Artistic Director
Michael J. Polo
Executive Director
Eva-Sophie Mueller
Managing Director
Christian Schulz
Music Director
