Germany | Austria

Germany is a huge, diverse and amazing country, with a wide range of possibilities for concerts and for culture. Favourite destinations include Trier, Germany’s oldest city, packed with remains of its Roman past and an astounding nine UNESCO World Heritage sites! The historic Brunnenhof has an outdoor stage, holding concerts from May to September. Another hidden gem is Wernigerode, deep in the mountainous Harz district in central Germany and within easy reach of Dresden and Leipzig. Its picture-postcard half-timbered houses are in the shadow of Germany’s highest mountain, Mt Brocken (a narrow gauge railway takes you to the top). Visitors to Leipzig are able to perform at St Thomas Church or indeed under the iconic Bach monument in the summer months.

You would struggle to find a city more imbued with music at every turn than the elegant, iconic Austrian capital of Vienna. Choirs will be spoilt for choice for magnificent churches and Cathedrals which have welcomed international choirs and singers for centuries, whilst symphony orchestras have the chance to regale huge crowds in local parks and town squares, and smaller ensembles can perform in the beautiful courtyard of the Haus der Musik. Further south in Austria, surely one of the most picturesque music academies in Europe awaits you on the shores of Lake Ossiach, with its ornate rehearsal rooms and state-of-the-art concert hall as well as dormitories and cafeteria on site. In Salzburg ensembles can perform in the gardens of the Mirabel Palace and in prominent parks, squares and bandstands dotted across the idyllic lakeside towns of Hallstatt, St Gilgen, Strobl, Bad Ischl and Bad Reichenhall.