American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS in Graz)
Education provider · Austria
AIMS in Graz is a non-profit summer programme in Graz, Austria, that has prepared singers, collaborative pianists and orchestral musicians for professional careers since 1969. It is administered from Kansas City, USA.
The American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) was founded in 1969 to give singers the chance to learn about, and audition for, the European opera system. First based in Freiburg, Germany, the programme moved to Graz, Austria, in 1971 to benefit from the city's cultural calendar, transport links and performance venues.
Each summer AIMS brings participants to Graz for six weeks of intensive training. Singers join an Opera Studio or Lieder Studio, collaborative pianists work within the Lieder Studio, and experienced instrumentalists perform in the AIMS Festival Orchestra under European conductors. Participants range from undergraduates to postgraduates, emerging professionals and music educators.
The programme offers one-to-one lessons and coaching, conversational German, diction, master classes, an audition training seminar and auditions for agents and presenters. AIMS presents more than 30 concerts and events each summer in venues across Graz and Styria, including the AIMS Meistersinger Vocal Competition.
AIMS is a non-profit organisation supported by volunteers, donors, Graz audiences, the City of Graz and the Province of Styria. Its administrative office is in Kansas City, Missouri, and auditions for all programmes are held across the United States early each year, with recorded auditions also accepted.
