classicAscona academy & Next Generation
ClassicAscona Academy's projects starting in 2026
With its new academy, classicAscona expands the festival with projects to promote young talent and music outreach in collaboration with Ticino’s educational institutions.
Next Generation I | Cello Ensemble of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
Costellazione Giovani | Next Generation II | Ilya Shmukler
Next Generation III | Final Concert – Masterclass Julia Lezhneva
Formats open to the public
Free admission
International lecturers
Young talents
classicAscona academy & Next Generation
Young professionals, ambitious amateurs, children and youth participate in the classicAscona academy. In close cooperation with Ticino’s educational institutions, master classes and workshops are offered, the results of which are presented to the public as part of the academy’s concerts.
- Master classes with internationally renowned artists in residence
- Public rehearsals, end-of-course concerts and academic formats
- Training opportunities for ambitious amateurs and semi-professional musicians as part of the Ascona Choral Academy
- Inclusion projects with local schools and educational institutions
The Academy is not a secondary program. It is a cultural mission.
A space for the next generation
Christoph Müller on the classicAscona Academy.
From 2026, the Settimane Musicali will open a new space dedicated to the promotion, popularization, and meeting of young musical talent, thanks to the newly established classicAscona Academy. The Academy is an integral part of the festival, expanding its program through projects that integrate learning, ensemble music, and cultural responsibility.
At the center are young talents, students, children, and youth, as well as ambitious amateurs. Collaborations with internationally renowned artists and educational institutions in Ticino give rise to formats that bring together different levels of experience and foster intergenerational exchange. A conscious rootedness in Ascona, Locarno, and the entire Locarno area guarantees a strong closeness to the territory, combined with openness to the outside world.
In the classicAscona Academy, music is not only transmitted at a high artistic level but also understood as a communal experience. Encounter, dialogue, and mutual learning define the academy’s work, making it a living place within the festival, where musical growth and social values find equal space.
Welcome to Ascona and Locarno
Christoph Müller, artistic director
Academy 2026 projects
Ascona Choral Academy
October 4th to 10th 2026
- Conductors: Tenebrae Choir (London) and Nigel Short, general director; Anna Sample, Olivia Shotton, Jonathan Howard, co-hosts
- Participants: Professional and semi-professional a cappella ensembles, vocal ensembles, choirs, youth choirs; individual singers forming an ad hoc choir.
- Offerings: Workshops, Evensong, final concert
Three Master Classes With Artists-in-Residence
Lecturers: Julia Lezhneva, soprano – Sept. 20 to 23; 2026 Vilde Frang, violin – Sept. 25 to 28; 2026 Sol Gabetta, cello – Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, 2026
Participants: Students and young professional musicians
Offered: Public lectures and concerts
Ascona Baroque Academy
September 22 – 27, 2026
- Lecturers: Maurice Steger, Recorder; Ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, conductor (baroque violin, baroque viola, baroque cello): Zefira Valova, Violin; Stefano Marcocchi, Viola; Ludovico Minasi, Cello; Vanni Moretto, Double Bass; n.n., Harpsichord, accompaniment, ensemble direction
- Participants: Students and young professional musicians
- Offered: lectures, workshops, public concerts
- Orchestral training for the creation of the “Ascona Baroque Academy Orchestra” Tuning: 415 Hz, historical baroque instruments
Concert for PEACE
October 10, 2026
YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF UKRAINE rehearsal week and concert with Oksana Lyniv, conductor and Nigel Short (Tenebrae Choir)
The final concert of the festival is also the final concert of the Ascona Choral Academy. The internationally acclaimed Youth Symphony Orchestra Ukraine, conducted by its principal conductor, has been living in exile since the beginning of the war and depends on residential collaborations for its rehearsal spaces. Through this collaboration, we wish to send a signal of solidarity and humanity.
«Preludio Lungolago»
3 outdoor concerts on the stage of Ascona’s Lungolago, featuring ensembles from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. The “Preludio Lungolago” concert series provides a platform for local music schools and educational projects in Canton Ticino. It is held before the main concerts at Collegio Papio, and admission is free (with collection).
«Costellazione Giovani»
5 recitals with emerging artists
The series showcases young international competition winners in their debut concerts. The performances serve as a prelude to the main concerts at Chiesa San Francesco and Chiesa Collegio Papio, allowing the audience to attend both.
Children and Youth Project
Children and young people from local elementary schools and music schools of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana bring an interdisciplinary music project to life. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Dimitri Verscio Academy, and several public performances are planned.
Live experience
All Academy concerts are free admission.
Free reservations are required for some formats.
Learn about musical development, knowledge transmission and young voices in the very place where they take shape.
Calendar of concerts of the classicAscona academy
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation I | Cello Ensemble of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
Violoncello & Conductor: Claude Hauri
Cello Ensemble of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Costellazione Giovani | Next Generation II | Ilya Shmukler
Piano: Ilya Shmukler
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation III | Final Concert – Masterclass Julia Lezhneva
Students
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Costellazione Giovani | Next Generation IV | Sarang Seohyun Kim
Violin: Sarang Seohyun Kim
Piano: Ryan Wang
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation V | Ascona Baroque Academy – Final Concert I
Section leaders Baroque Orchestra “Il Pomo d’Oro”
Recorder: Maurice Steger
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VI | Orchestra 1 del Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana
Orchestra 1 della Scuola di Musica del Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VII | Ascona Baroque Academy – Final Concert II
Section leaders Baroque Orchestra “Il Pomo d’Oro”
Recorder: Maurice Steger
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VIII | Final Concert – Masterclass Vilde Frang
Students
- Meeting places:
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta (Chiesa Nuova), Locarno
- Meeting places:
Chiesa di San Martino, Ronco sopra Ascona
- Meeting places:
Spiaggia Castello del Sole, Padiglione
- Meeting places:
Piazza Lungolago, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Chiesa del Collegio Papio, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Chiesa di S. Maria di Ponte, Brissago
- Meeting places:
Isole di Brissago, Villa Emden
- Meeting places:
Chiesa di Mogno, Vallemaggia
- Meeting places:
Teatro del Gatto, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Castello Visconteo, Locarno
- Meeting places:
Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate, Losone -Arcegno
- Meeting places:
Chiesa San Francesco, Locarno
- Meeting places:
Bordei, Chiesa and Osteria Giardino
- Meeting places:
Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Sala Sopracenerina, Locarno
- Meeting places:
Monte Verità Ascona, swimming pool
- Meeting places:
Collegio Papio, Ascona, Aula Magna
- Meeting places:
Chiostro del Collegio Papio, Ascona [Cloister, Openair].
Who is the Academy aimed at?
Young musicians and students
Young professionals, ambitious amateurs, children and teenagers
Audience interested in music
Visitors who wish not only to listen to music, but also to experience its creation process.
Families, schools and educational institutions
Children and youth from local schools, music schools and training institutions in Ticino.