The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus is an educational institution under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Culture, and the protectorate of HRH Crown Prince Frederik, and is responsible for teaching and research at a high international level in the fields of classical and rhythmic music, music pedagogy and movement.

The study environment is lively and committed, and is characterised by mutual respect and highly qualified interaction between the numerous different genres of music encompassed by the academy. The students meet others from different subjects and departments every day, in both the Big Band and the symphony orchestra, as well as at festivals, when the academy holds its "ANNUAL FESTIVAL" every spring – a one-day music festival in the Concert Hall Aarhus, where a wide selection of ensembles and soloists from various genres can be seen and heard in concert halls and on café stages.

The academy is an open institution that attaches importance to national and international collaboration. The teaching that is provided by our highly qualified permanent staff is regularly supplemented by guest teachers and master classes with musicians at the highest international level, such as Marie Bergman, Erling Bløndal Bengtsson, Dennis Mackrel, Pat Metheny, Fernando Negalé and Lars Jansson. International collaboration has been established with a large number of musical academies and universities throughout the Nordic countries and Europe, and also in Latin America and Africa. This is implemented both via well-established networks such as the Nordic Council of Conservatoires, the European Association of Conservatoires and SOCRATES, and via the academy’s own partnership agreements.

The academy draws great benefits from its location in Aarhus, which is a city that is full of educational and cultural opportunities, and it plays a key role in the city’s cultural life. Several of the more than one hundred concerts that are held each year take place at different musical venues around the city. The academy is represented at a large number of local events, including the Aarhus Festival Week, the Riverboat Jazz Festival in Silkeborg, the Night of Culture, the Play Danish Day, etc. In addition, there are national tours and international study and concert trips for students of both rhythmic and classical music. On an academic level, the academy is working on several research projects together with the University of Aarhus, including a pioneering music-neurological research project at the Centre for Integrative Neural Research.

The teaching at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus is based on the master class tradition and the old European university tradition, where artistic activities and research are carried out in a mutual and equal exchange with the students. Importance is attached to giving the students the opportunity to take part in contexts resembling those they will be a part of when they leave the academy as professional musicians and music teachers. The classical department has an orchestra school, for example, where budding orchestral musicians can play in a full symphony orchestra, and take part in orchestral seminars with guest conductors and soloists, and in fully professional opera productions, which the academy performs every other year. In the rhythmic department practical experience is gained by participating in the academy’s Big Band and countless bands and jam sessions. The academy has also established a good partnership with a number of professional orchestras and educational institutions, including the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Klüvers Big Band, folk high schools and music schools, where the students have the opportunity to try their hand working as musicians or music teachers outside of the academy.

The academy has chosen to give emphasis to electronic music across the various genres and departments. This has led to our joining forces with DIEM (the Danish Institute of Electronic Music) as of 1st January 2003. Over the years DIEM has shown itself to be one of the most important international centres for electronic and electro-acoustic music. This union has led to the establishment of a national centre of expertise for electronic music, and the academy is looking forward to being able to offer courses of various lengths in this exciting field.

The Academy is located at:

The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus
Skovgaardsgade 2C
8000 Aarhus C
DENMARK