Orchestra Academy

orchesterakademie — Orchesterakademie, Foto Peter Meisel

An experience for life

To be a professional musician in an orchestra - this is the dream of many students. While personal playing skills and solistic interpretation are part of their studies, students usually lack practice in playing with large ensembles or orchestras. At the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB), the Orchestra Academy for Strings was established in 2002 by the orchestra's friends and supporters.

Since then, every two years, 13 scholarships have been awarded to young musicians under the age of 26. The students apply from all over the world for these scholarships. Once they have arrived in the orchestra, they enrich the diversity of the RSB.

akademistin-orchesterakademie — Sophia Maiwald im Theater im Delphi, 2021, Foto Peter Meisel

How does the Academy work?
Academy members get assigned to orchestral duties and play side by side with their colleagues in rehearsals, concerts and tours, as well as on CD recordings. They each have a permanent mentor in their section. These mentors
support the academists with advice and constructive criticism, they give lessons and pass on their personal experience.
The academy members are thus strengthened as artistic individuals, but above all they experience how it is to work as part of an artistic community. Regular workshops outside the actual musical repertoire complete this training. For example, they learn about preparing rehearsals, the dramaturgy of concert programs, communicating music to children and adults, and musician's health. Once a year, the members of the Orchestra Academy give a chamber recital. The time with the RSB can be a real kcikstart for the career of many members of the academy. They earn positions in renowned national and international ensembles - in some cases during their time at the academy - and can start their professional lives in a strengthened position, in some cases even at the RSB itself.