The Academy

After a 2020 edition that had to be organised purely online because of the pandemic, the 10th European Summer Music Academy is back live in 2021!

Young musicians between the ages of 10 to 26 from the countries of South-eastern Europe and further afield will once again have the opportunity of working and studying with renowned pedagogues and performers: Jordi PONS (Spain/Switzerland – clarinet), Prof. Ljubiša JOVANOVIĆ (Serbia – flute), Ardita STATOVCI (Austria/Kosovo – piano) and Prof. Dr. Orhan AHISKAL (USA/Turkey – violin). These courses will take place from 27 September to 2 October in the premises of the faculty of arts in Pristina.

As in previous years, there will again be the Guitar Days in Mitrovica, starting on 23 September, and featuring no less than three high-calibre guitarists: Danijel CEROVIĆ (Montenegro), Sanel REDŽIĆ (BiH/Germany) and Erhan MUJKA (Kosovo). The Guitar Days in Mitrovica area supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kosovo, the Municipality of South Mitrovica, and by the CBM organisation.

The 2021 edition will remain relatively small, and public events will be limited out of respect for ongoing health concerns. However, the Building Bridges project, born last year, will continue in 2021: immediately after the ESMA masterclasses, a second set of masterclasses will follow, one that will specifically prepare young string instrument players for the first ever tour of the Western Balkans Youth Orchestra. The first WBYO concert will take place in Pristina on 14 October, followed by a second concert in Skopje as part of the international music festival Stage of the Serious Albanian Music the next day, and a final concert in Tirana on 17 October as part of this year’s German October in Albania.

The Building Bridges in the Western Balkans 2021 has been generously sponsored by the Swiss Cooperation Office and the EU Office in Kosovo, the Rotary Club Aachen-Land in Germany, the Kosovar Ministry for Culture, Youth and Sports, the Municipality of South Mitrovica, the Czech Embassy in Kosovo, the Heimerer College in Pristina, the Faculty of Arts of the “Hasan Prishtina” University in Pristina, the German Embassy in Albania, and the Hotel Parlament in Pristina.

ESMA 2021 is led by the Artistic Director Desar Sulejmani, with the close collaboration of the local implementers Artium Eudora – ‘ArtEU’ & KOSOVA ARS.