Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar

Bachelor and state examination admission

The general higher education entrance qualification (allgemeine Hochschulreife, e.g. Abitur) is normally required; for teacher training in music at Gymnasien and for Musikwissenschaft it is required. In the other courses it can be waived for exceptional artistic talent. Every artistic and pedagogical applicant must pass an entrance audition (Eignungsprüfung) under the university's audition regulations; Bachelor of Arts Musikwissenschaft, the supplementary subject Interkulturelles Musik- und Veranstaltungsmanagement, and the Master of Arts in Musikwissenschaft and Kulturmanagement have no audition. Applications are made through the online application portal of the university, for both summer and winter semesters.

Application documents: application form, tabular CV, audition programme and scores for the main subject, proof of the entrance qualification (or a declaration that it will be obtained before the start), proof of a completed degree for postgraduate study, parental consent for applicants under 18, and proof of payment of the audition fee. The audition fee is 50 euros for artistic degrees (B.Mus., M.Mus., Konzertexamen, Weiterbildendes Studium), pedagogical degrees and the Musikpraxis profiles. Foreign qualifications must be submitted as certified copies in German or English.

Audition

Auditions for most instruments are held in Weimar over one or two consecutive days; a first round by video upload applies in many subjects (for example strings, flute, oboe, clarinet, trombone, percussion, voice, piano, jazz, early music, organ and church music), while composition begins with submitted scores. Videos run 10 to 15 minutes, include a personal introduction and may not exceed 1.5 GB. Artistic auditions last 20 to 30 minutes before a commission of at least three examiners; the music theory written test lasts 45 minutes. A piano minor-subject test is also taken in Bachelor auditions. Three works of different style periods are performed in the main-subject test.

Deadlines

For the summer semester 2027: artistic degrees (B.Mus., M.Mus.) and Lehramt Musik 1 October to 2 November 2026; Musikwissenschaft, Kulturmanagement and Interkulturelles Musik- und Veranstaltungsmanagement 1 October 2026 to 15 January 2027. For the winter semester 2027/28: artistic degrees and Lehramt Musik 15 February to 15 March 2027; Kulturmanagement, Musikwissenschaft and the management supplementary subject 15 February to 30 June 2027. Auditions for the winter semester 2027/28 take place from 28 May to 3 June 2027. For the summer semester 2027 several subjects are not open to applications, among them accordion, early music instruments, choral and orchestral conducting, opera coaching, voice, guitar, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, piano, instrumental composition, Konzertexamen and music theory.

Language

German proof is needed at the latest at enrolment. For artistic and instrumental pedagogy degrees: TestDaF level 3, DSH 1, Goethe-Institut B2 or telc B2. For academic and teacher-training degrees (Musikwissenschaft, Kulturmanagement, Lehramt): TestDaF level 4, DSH 2, Goethe-Institut C1 or telc C1. Doctoral candidates need sufficient German and the foreign languages relevant to their field. Language certificates must be original or certified copies.

Master, Konzertexamen and doctorate

Postgraduate study requires a completed degree (or a declaration that it will be completed before the start); the artistic postgraduate Aufbaustudium additionally requires the degree in the subject chosen as the main subject, and a teacher-training degree is not sufficient. The Konzertexamen applicant brings their own accompanist. The Ph.D. programme for artists, run with the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, lasts four years, requires a Master or Diplom from an artistic or design university, a mentor from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, and a prior contact with a professor with a short motivation letter and research summary; applications go through the Bauhaus.CampusPortal.

Visa

Applicants from outside the EU need a student visa from the German embassy in their home country.

The university is spread across several historic sites in and near Weimar.

• Fürstenhaus (main building), Platz der Demokratie, Weimar centre: built in the 1770s; houses the string and piano departments, the Institut für Alte Musik, the Studio für elektroakustische Musik, the recording studio, the library and the Festsaal with adjustable acoustics.
• Klostergebäude Am Palais, Weimar centre: teaching rooms for school and church musicians, with a hall organ.
• Hochschulzentrum am Horn: jazz, woodwind and brass, elementary music education/rhythmics, musicology and cultural management, ensemble rehearsal rooms with adjustable acoustics, and the Hochschularchiv | Thüringisches Landesmusikarchiv.
• Schloss Belvedere park (Beethovenhaus, Bachhaus, Haydnhaus, Studiotheater): singers, guitarists and accordionists teach and practise in the Kavaliershäuser; the Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere, the university's centre for highly gifted young musicians, is also in the park and has 130 early-study places (120 in classes 5 to 12 and 10 in the preparatory class).
• Administration: Rößlersches Haus and Kaufstraße; the Altenburg (Jenaer Straße 3), Liszt's former residence, is used for the Franz-Liszt-Zentrum, the presidency and parts of the administration.

The library, at two locations, holds about 75,000 scores, about 50,000 books and journals, about 15,000 CDs, DVDs and other media and about 11,000 records, with e-journals, e-books and databases, and lends iPads and recording equipment. A sports programme is open through the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar sports centre.