About Us - Description
Techne Music is a chamber music festival for highly advanced string students. Held at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, students have intense coaching, classes, and lectures on the unique challenges and rewards found in chamber music. Faculty and guest faculty include concertmasters of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony, faculty from the Curtis Institute of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, as well as members of Orion, Daedalus, Vega, Uptown, Juilliard, and American String Quartets. The festival usually runs for five days in June.
Due to generous donations from individuals and organizations that support the Arts, Techne Music does not charge any tuition for the students who are accepted. This allows the student - faculty ratio to remain very small. Techne normally accepts 14 - 18 students, with four full time faculty members and several guest artists, including associates from major marketing firms who work on presentation skills for the students' careers.
In addition to the main festival each June, Techne offers paid performances to students throughout the year, who are selected from the previous summer festival. Named after the beloved conductor and Techne board member who passed away in 2023, the Donald Spieth Memorial Award offers a critical steppingstone from student to professional in the world of music.