+++ 18th - 20th March 2025: Open days for our pedagogical degree programmes - all further information here! +++
ARCO - Art, Research & Creation Opus, the French-Austrian academy for contemporary composition, is a cooperation between the Mozarteum University and the GMEM Marseille . Since 2019, the ARCO has provided a forum for selected participants receive intensive coaching and immediate feedback on their works in direct collaboration with renowned coaches and professional ensembles.
Mozarteum University
+43 676 88122 317
rektorin@moz.ac.at
GMEM Marseille
+ 33 4 96 20 60 10
End of application period
8.1.2024
ARCO 2024
3.-13.7.2024
Patronage
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen
President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron
The goal of ARCO is to encourage, raise awareness of and further develop encounters and reflections on French and Austrian culture, with the focus of contemporary music and composition. Part of this mission is fulfilled through a study and coaching format that promotes selected compositions and concepts, with this work being complemented by concerts, discussion forums, productions and social media. In this way, ARCO continues the tradition of Franco-Austrian kinship that was borne out by Stefan Zweig, Peter Handke, Romain Rolland, Robert Musil and many others.
The Academy unites two outstanding institutions: the GMEM in Marseille, in the immediate vicinity of the world-renowned Festival in Aix-en-Provence, and the Mozarteum University, in close proximity to the Salzburg Festival. The Academy takes place alternately in Marseille and France. Since 2019, a cooperation with the two major festivals has gradually been growing and becoming ever more established. The target group of talented, committed and advanced students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) is challenged to engage with topics such as cultural responsibility, innovation, artistic freedom, individual and society, and Europe 4.0. The ARCO project is also supported by SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) and by Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne as well as other sponsors.
Every year, around 50 composers, teachers, instrumentalists, singers and conducting students from all over the world work together with the renowned French ensembles Les Métaboles, Ensemble Multilatérale and the Tana Quartet to realise world premieres of pieces composed especially for this occasion.
ARCO is an international festival with top-class commissioned compositions, creating a format all of its own that is entirely unique.
— Principal Elisabeth Gutjahr
ARCO is the further development of an academy for contemporary music founded by the French composer Yann Robin and the former Franco-German summer academy OPUS XXI, both of which followed the idea of placing highly renowned French ensembles alongside international young composers for a joint and professional finalisation of their works up to and including public performance. Due to the state funding that ensembles in France receive for educational work, the awarding of composition commissions and for concerts, an extraordinarily high standard of professionalism can be financed.
ARCO was launched in 2019, with its location alternating annually since 2022 between Marseille, in a former tobacco factory, and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. This creates a contrasting creative environment that offers unique inspiration. The core team of ARCO focuses primarily on composition; in 2022, vocalists from the Mozarteum as well as a conducting student participated for the first time.
