We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Call for Interest to join the Erasmus Orchestra for the upcoming concerts in 2025. This initiative represents an exciting opportunity for talented students from Higher Music Education Institutions to showcase their skills on an international stage while participating in an enriching cultural exchange experience.

The call has been launched to address the need for balancing the Orchestra’s ensemble, specifically for certain types of instruments whose participation has been lower in the previous call.

What is the Erasmus Orchestra?

The Erasmus  Orchestra was founded in 2017 by the Erasmus+ Italian National Agency INDIRE to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus Programme. It is a project aimed at promoting the Programme through the universal language of music and art, representing the value of a shared European identity worldwide.

Over the past six years, the Orchestra has performed more than 20 concerts in prestigious venues across Europe and beyond, involving over 300 Erasmus students from 60 conservatories in 20 countries. These professional concert activities have provided young musicians with training experience and fostered internationally significant institutional partnerships.

The Erasmus Orchestra has been recognized as a best practice by the European Commission and other stakeholders, as well as by the Erasmus+ National Agencies, for its role in promoting Erasmus+ opportunities in higher education  in the field of performing arts.

A New European Call

Building on these results, the Italian Erasmus+ Italian National Agency INDIRE has decided to further strengthen this initiative at the international level by launching a new European Call to expand the current list of eligible students, targeting Higher Music Education Institutions from all EU countries and Erasmus+ Program-associated countries, with the aim of finding students playing less popular instruments to join the orchestra. The initiative is supported by the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC), which endorses the project, granting it prestige, visibility, and promotion across Europe.

This new Call for Interest aims at creating a Europe-wide list of eligible musicians the Erasmus+ Italian National Agency INDIRE can rely on for the 2025 musical productions.

Application details

The list of eligible musicians will be compiled through a selection process based on applications submitted online by Higher Music Education Institutions, as outlined in the Call’s guidelines.

Each institution can nominate up to five Erasmus students by submitting an application exclusively online by the deadline of January 11th, 2025.