Students in:focus
Mission Statement
"I have often been thinking about Jazz Education during my years of studies and during my years as a teacher. We all know that Jazz is hard to teach and some of its essential qualities are hard to put in words, let alone systems. Focusyear is my attempt to create the most direct learning environment for talented musicians, one that bypasses the grey zones of academia and deals exclusively with the reality of sound and community of an ensemble. Inspired by the World Music Institute at Berklee and the Monk Institute in Los Angeles, and thanks to generous support from the Levedo Foundation, we can realize a dream in the heart of Europe."
Wolfgang Muthspiel about Focusyear
About
Focusyear is a one-year program for an internationally assembled ensemble of up to nine students, who will be coached in a regular cycle by acknowledged masters of the international Jazz scene.
The students selected for Focusyear receive a full scholarship covering tuition and the cost of living, in order to allow them to focus on music exclusively.
Over the course of the year, the ensemble creates concert programs and records an album, which will be produced in the school’s own recording studio. The band will perform regularly in the school’s Jazzcampus Club. The band is also playing selected concerts during the year.
-
Applications for Focusyear 2026/27 are welcome in September 2025
-
Deadline for Applications is December 31, 2025
-
Focusyear 2026/27 starts September 14, 2026. Focusyear lasts for one year.
-
yearly schedule
-
Focusyear usually starts mid September.
-
Every other week the band will be coached by a master for four consecutive days.
-
There are recording periods in which the band will record their album.
-
The band will perform at the Jazzcampus Club every other week.
-
In Focusyear you have the possibility to take individual lessons with teachers from the Institute Jazz of your choice every other week.
-
There are also longer composition periods planned.
We expect that you are able to speak and understand the English language.
Focusyear does not give credits. You will receive a diploma at the end of the year.
Your studies at Focusyear are free. You will have the official status of a student, but will not have to pay tuition.
You will receive a monthly sum of 2000 CHF to cover the cost of living. You will have to organize your accomodation and travels by yourself.
During Focusyear attendance is compulsory.
You will have to be present for all rehersals, concerts and recordings.