Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Basel Academy of Music

Highest standards of musical training

The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is the best known and largest institute for the study of Early Music. With some 70 lecturers and around 200 students, it brings music spanning a millennium (9th to 19th century) back to life. It provides the highest standards of tuition in Early Music, whether in the major subject, compulsory practical subjects and in terms of theory. It also offers an excellent learning and research environment, first-rate infrastructures and an array of performance opportunities for its students. Thanks to the solid practical and academic grounding they receive, students of Early Music leave the Schola Cantorum with the skills and knowledge the need to forge a successful career in music.

The history of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis – a driving force behind early music

From the very beginning, cellist and gambist August Wenzinger (1905-1996) and violinist, composer, and music teacher Ina Lohr (1903-1983) had a decisive influence. From the outset, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis consisted of a music school for children and amateurs and a concert division. Vocational training was soon added. Since 1954, both areas have been working with the current Basel Music School (amateur training) and the Basel Music Academy FHNW under the umbrella of the Musik-Akademie Basel. Paul Sacher (1906-1999), founding director since 1933, headed the entire Basel Music Academy until 1969. In 1999, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis was recognized as a “university” for early music, and in 2008 it was structurally integrated into the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), while the SCB music school remained part of the Basel Music Academy.

Founding director Paul Sacher

Graduates and lecturers:

Former teachers and lecturers were among others August Wenzinger, Hans Martin Linde, Tom Binkley, Gustav Leonhardt, Jaap Schröder, Eugen M. Dombois, Edward H. Tarr, René Jacobs, Montserrat Figueras, Jordi Savall, Anthony Rooley, Conrad Steinmann, Crawford Young, Dominique Vellard, Evelyn Tubb, Chiara Banchini, Hopkinson Smith, Gerd Türk, Donna Agrell, Wolfgang Zerer, Christophe Coin and Paolo Pandolfo.

Currently, well-known protagonists of early music teach here, including many alumni and alumnae: Jean-François Madeuf, Marc Hantaï, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Andrea Marcon, Marc Lewon, Baptiste Romain, Katarina Livljanic, Corina Marti, Amandine Beyer, Leila Schayegh, Frithjof Smith, Andreas Böhlen, Carlos Mena and others.

Famous graduates also include Ben Bagby, Barbara Thornton, Paul O’Dette, Bruce Dickey, Andreas Scholl, Maria Cristina Kiehr, Benjamin Alard and others.

Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Leonhardsstrasse 6
4009 Basel
Schweiz

Provisorium Letzi
St. Alban-Vorstadt 95
4052 Basel