The International Summer Academy Biel promotes particularly talented music students as well as young instrumentalists from the age of 14 years, from all over the world in annual master classes held in July.

The lecturers are all internationally renowned personalities who hold professorships at Swiss or foreign universities. A special feature of the Summer Academy Biel is the participation of a professional orchestra. Students are thus offered the unique opportunity to rehearse and perform as soloists with orchestral accompaniment. 

The Masterclasses are accompanied by concerts of the lecturers, final concerts of the Masterclasses and orchestra concerts with soloists from the Masterclasses.

The summer academy and the raison d'être of the resident orchestra originally began with conducting courses with orchestra. It was only after a few years that the conducting class was supplemented and eventually replaced by instrumental classes. However, the accompanying orchestra was retained and has become an indispensable USP of the academy. This year, Kaspar Zehnder, artistic director of the Summer Academy since 2018 and principal conductor of the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra between 2012 and 2022, is offering a conducting course again after a long break. This is aimed at advanced choir and orchestra conductors.