Desar Sulejmani

Artistic Director of the European Summer Music Academy (ESMA)
Masterclasses in piano, conducting & orchestral training

Dear young musicians,

Dear friends of the European Summer Music Academy,

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

After the 2020 edition, during which all ESMA activities had to be transferred online, ESMA 2021 is back live!  Even if this year’s edition will be slightly smaller, with less public concerts, given the ongoing health risks, I am happy to announce that we have again been able to assemble a high-quality faculty of international performers that will offer masterclasses in violin, piano, flute, guitar and clarinet. And finally, this year, the Western Balkans Youth Orchestra (WBYO) will be able to hold its first ever live training and recording sessions, with additional masterclasses in violin, viola, cello and double bass surrounding the orchestral preparation. This process will be crowned by a WBYO tour, with concerts in Pristina, Skopje and Tirana!

This tour has in the making for a very long time, and I am very excited for this part of the project to finally come to live. But it is only a befitting new element, as this year will be the 10th ESMA edition, a significant anniversary!

Any musician will know that progress demands hard work and endless hours of practice. But also, the quality of the teachers – their commitment and their skills – can make a serious difference. This is why ESMA has been endeavouring for the last 10 years to give young musician from the Balkans the opportunity of working with world-class professors, training and progressing with them, and studying together with their peers from the region. It is my hope that this will help you grow and contribute your artistic and personal journeys!

The whole project Building Bridges in the Western Balkans would of course not have been possible without the generous support from a number of donors, and I would therefore like to express my deep appreciation and thanks to 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.  

This remarkable support from so many friends makes a big difference for all of ESMA’s organizers and participants!

We are eager to hear our young musicians play, and we are looking forward to the concerts and recordings that will come out of this process.

Let’s make music together! HERE IN WESTERN BALKAN! NOW!

Artistic Director

European Summer Music Academy & Western Balkans Youth Orchestra.