The Savonlinna Music Academy is an independent institution in the town’s fine tradition of music education. It seeks to act as a pioneer in the provision of training in Lied, Opera and Chamber Music is a unique chance for the world-famous Finnish education in classical music, international artists and young talents to meet in the cultural atmosphere of summer Savonlinna. The Academy may be likened to the Steans Institute operating alongside the Ravinia Festival or the Mozarteum at the Salzburg Festival. The Artistic Director of Savonlinna Music Academy ispianist-professor Ralf Gothóni and the other members of the artistic commission are director Eija Tolpo (opera), pianist-professor Hartmut Höll (Lied) and violinist Mark Gothóni (chamber music). Former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari is the honorary chairman of the council.

　　The courses of the Music Academy provide young artists with an opportunity for integrated study in which interaction and diversity are key factors in the search for deeper understanding. At the chamber music master classes teachers and students make music together.

　　Participants of the master classes are players and singers of outstanding talent either in the final stages of their studies or just embarking on their career. Being outside the established institutions, the training carries no mechanical attainment requirements and is thus a vital contribution to the training of creative artists. The teachers and students on the courses come from all over the world and the Music Academy thus promotes networking between both generations and cultures. The teachers are all international artists of the highest calibre with a broad understanding of life and creative musicality.

　　Savonlinna Music Academy is maintained by the Savonlinna Music Academy Relief Association. Its operations are financed by the town of Savonlinna, foundations and sponsors. The Academy is an opportunity for its sponsors to offer their partners, business associates and personnel concerts in Savonlinna in summer or to attain visibility through, say, the concert and course advertisements. The Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Music Academy is pianist-professor Ralf Gothóni and the other members of the artistic commission are director Eija Tolpo (opera), pianist-professor Hartmut Höll (Lied) and violinist-professor Mark Gothoni (chamber music). Former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari is the honorary chairman of the council.

　　The Finnish-Egyptian Musical Bridge will take place for the sixth time In March 2013. The artists and pedagogues of the Savonlinna Music Academy will work together with their Egyptian colleagues in workshops. The product will be brought to the Cairo audience in a Chamber Music Concert and in an Opera Concert. The same kind of events in five past years in Cairo, in Turkey (Ankara and Izmir) and in Azerbaidzan (Baku, sponsored by Azercell) have created very positive and enthusiastic reactions in the Egyptian, in the Turkish and in the Azerbaijani audience and media.

　　In the summer 2013 Savonlinna Music Academy will be running from June 24th to August 9th. There will be Master Classes in Opera, Lied, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Chamber Music and Music Technology. The teachers will include Emile Cantor, Mark Gothóni, Hartmut Höll, Paavali Jumppanen, Tom Krause, Mi-kyung Lee, Jiri Parviainen, Otto Romanowski, Laurentiu Sbarcea, Jorma Silvasti and Timothy Summers.

　　60th Anniversary Year of the Savonlinna Music Academy

　　The year 2015 marks the passing of 60 years since the founding (in 1955) of Finland’s longest-standing summer music event, the Savonlinna Music Days. The long history of the Music Days still continues today, through the work of the Savonlinna Music Academy.

　　Masterclasses