Palais Attems Vokalaka­demie

Cantiones Sacrae

Palais Attems Vokalakademie @Styriarte

July 13 to 17, 2025, Palais Attems, Graz  

Four days of intensive course with Dame Emma Kirkby (Soprano) and Michael Hell (Harpsichord), including a final concert on July 17th, 2025, at Minoritensaal Graz

We are looking for 

8 singers who wish to deepen their skills in vocal ensemble with Early Baroque music. The target group is advanced voice students, graduates, and early-career professionals with a particular interest in Early Music. We are looking for two sopranos, two altos (including countertenors or haute-contres), two tenors, and two baritone or bass voices.  

Programme 

The focus will be on the study of four- and eight-part vocal works with basso continuo from the first half of the 17th century. The course will be accompanied by theorbo player Sofie Vanden Eynde and violone player Georg Kroneis.  

Heinrich Schütz: Motets from Cantiones Sacrae  
Giovanni Valentini: Missa Susanne un jour  

The program may be supplemented by duets and solo motets.  

We offer 

• Free participation in the „Palais Attems Vocal Academy“ at the most beautiful house in Graz.  

• Four days of intensive course work with workshops and lectures.

• The programme culminates in a concert designed by the participants at Minoritensaal Graz as part of the Styriarte Festival.  

 Additionally we offer: 

• Travel costs (preferably by train)  

• Hotel accommodation in Graz (single room including breakfast) from July 12th-18th, 2025  

• Per diem: €30  

• Feldenkrais sessions  

Applications

We look forward to receiving applications by May 11th 2025, with a resume and a live video  via YouTube link  (a composition from between 1580 and 1660, e.g. works by Cavalli, Dowland, Monteverdi, Schütz, as well as French Airs de cours) to:
Irmgard Heschl-Sinabell
E heschl@styriarte.com 

Coaches

Dame Emma Kirkby 
Soprano and Early Music Specialist 

Emma Kirkby is the prima donna of Early Music. Initially, she did not consider a career as a singer, but studied classical philology at Oxford. After graduating, Emma worked as a teacher, but her love of Early Music led her to train as a singer in London. She then joined Anthony Rooley and the Consort of Musicke as well as Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, launching a successful solo career worldwide from the mid-1970s. Emma Kirkby has shaped an ideal voice for Renaissance and Baroque music and has worked with almost all Early Music specialists over the years. She recorded over a hundred LPs and CDs. The grande dame of Early Music was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as ‘Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire’. Today, she enthusiastically passes on her knowledge to aspiring vocal enthusiasts. 

Michael Hell
Harpsichord 

Michael Hell holds the position of university professor for harpsichord and basso continuo at the Institute for Early Music and Performance Practice of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. He is also the musical director of the ensemble ĀRT HOUSE 17 and has received a number of major international awards for his passionate recorder performances. He is regular guests at the Styriarte music festival. He has also worked in collaboration with such institutions as the Kölner Philharmonie, Potsdamer Musikfestspielen, Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden, Bad Arolser Barockfestspielen, Kölner Festival für Alte Musik and the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, where he was artist in residence in 2023. Michael Hell is especially known for his use of unorthodox concert formats. 

Georg Kroneis
Violone & Feldenkrais Teacher for participants 

The Graz native sings and plays the viol and double bass, in the ensembles Fetish Baroque and ĀRT HOUSE 17, and produces music theater and circus theater productions with Adrian Schvarzstein. Since he was awarded the Österreichische Startstipendium Kunst by the Kulturministerium des Staates Österreich Georg Kroneis travels with his solo program inside Europe and beyond. He loves mathematics and is a Feldenkrais tutor. 

Sofie Vanden Eynde
Theorbo 

Sofie Vanden Eynde was born in Lommel, Belgium. Sofie has gained an international reputation as a specialist in historical plucked instruments. She regularly performs with ensembles including Il Gardellino, A Nocte Temporis and ĀRT HOUSE 17. As a duo, she has played with Dame Emma Kirkby, and many more. In 2012, Sofie set up Imago Mundi, an ensemble which aims to foster encounters between different branches of the arts and kinds of music: eastern and western, old and new.