The Sibelius Academy (
Finnish: Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia,
Swedish: Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the
University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level
music school which operates in
Helsinki and
Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in
Järvenpää and a training centre in
Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland.[3] It is among the biggest European music universities[citation needed] with roughly 1,400 enrolled students.
The Sibelius Academy is the organizer of the International Maj Lind Piano Competition and one of the organizers of the
International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition held every five years in Helsinki.[4]
History
The academy was founded in 1882 by
Martin Wegelius as Helsingfors musikinstitut ("Helsinki Music Institute") and renamed Sibelius-Akatemia in 1939[1] to honour its own former student and Finland's most celebrated composer
Jean Sibelius. In 2013, the academy merged with two formerly independent universities,
Helsinki Theatre Academy and
Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, to form the University of the Arts Helsinki.[5]
Degrees
The primary
degree at the Sibelius Academy is the
Master of Music (MMus) degree. The school also offers postgraduate degrees with artistic and research options. The postgraduate degrees are the Licentiate of Arts in Music
Lic.A. (Mus.) and the doctoral degree of Doctor of Arts in Music
D.A. (Mus.)
Degree programmes
The Academy offers the following degree programmes:[6]
Degree Programme in Church Music
Degree Programme in Composition and Music Theory
Degree Programme in Folk Music
Degree Programme in Jazz Music
Degree Programme in Orchestral and Choral Conducting
Ulf Söderblom, Principal Conductor of the
Finnish National Opera (1973–1993), taught at the Sibelius Academy and conducted its orchestras from 1965 to 1968[12]
Heidi Sundblad-Halme, founder and conductor of the Helsinki Women’s Orchestra; composer
^Dahlström, Fabian (2011).
"Söderblom, Ulf"Archived 17 February 2015 at the
Wayback Machine. Biografiskt lexikon för Finland. Online version retrieved 17 February 2015 (in Finnish).