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
Youth constellation | 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.
With the classicAscona academy, the Ascona Music Weeks will open from 2026 a new space dedicated to the promotion, popularization and meeting of young musical talent. The academy stands as an integral part of the festival, expanding its program through projects that combine 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 different levels of experience into dialogue and foster exchange between generations. The conscious rootedness in Ascona, Locarno and the entire Locarno area guarantees a strong closeness to the territory, combined with an openness to the outside world.
In the classicAscona academy, music is not only transmitted at a high artistic level, but is understood as a community experience. Encounter, dialogue and mutual learning characterize the work of the academy, making it a living place within the festival, where musical growth and social values find space in equal measure.
Welcome to Ascona and Locarno
Christoph Müller, artistic director
Academy 2026 projects
Ascona Choral Academy
October 4 – 10, 2026
- Lecturers: 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, is an ensemble that has been living in exile since the beginning of the war and depends on residential collaborations for its rehearsal stages. With this collaboration, we wish to send a signal of solidarity and humanity.
“Lakefront Prelude”
3 outdoor concerts on the stage of Ascona’s Lungolago with ensembles from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. The “Preludio Lungolago” concert series provides a platform for local music schools and educational projects in CantonTicino. It is programmed before the main concerts at Collegio Papio and admission is free (with collection).
“Youth Constellation”
5 recitals with emerging artists
The series presents young international competition winners in debut concerts. The performances serve as a prelude to the main concerts at St. Francis and Papio College, allowing the audience to attend both events.
Children and youth project
Children and young people from local elementary schools and music schools of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana bring to life an interdisciplinary music project. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Dimitri Verscio Academy. 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
Cello Ensemble of the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana
Cello & Direction: Claude Hauri
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Youth constellation | 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} | Youth Constellation | 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
Conductors: baroque orchestra “The Golden Apple”
Recorder: Maurice Steger
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VI | Music School of the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana
Orchestra 1 of the School of Music of the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VII | Ascona Baroque Academy – Final Concert II
Conductors: baroque orchestra “The Golden Apple”
Recorder: Maurice Steger
{mb_concerts_date:H:i} | Next Generation VIII | Final Concert – Masterclass Vilde Frang
Students
- Meeting places:
Church of Santa Maria Assunta (New Church), Locarno
- Meeting places:
Church of San Martino, Ronco sopra Ascona
- Meeting places:
Sunshine Castle Beach, Pavilion
- Meeting places:
Piazza Lungolago, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Papio College Church, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Church of St. Mary of Ponte Brissago
- Meeting places:
Brissago Islands, Villa Emden
- Meeting places:
Church of Mogno, Vallemaggia
- Meeting places:
Teatro del Gatto Ascona
- Meeting places:
Visconti Castle Locarno
- Meeting places:
Church of St. Anthony Abbot
- Meeting places:
Church of St. Francis, Locarno
- Meeting places:
Bordei, Church and Garden Tavern
- Meeting places:
Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Ascona
- Meeting places:
Sopracenerina Hall Locarno
- Meeting places:
Monte Verità Ascona, swimming pool
- Meeting places:
Papio College, Ascona, Aula Magna
- Meeting places:
Cloister of 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.