FAQs

All musical abilities are catered for, from beginners to advanced postgraduate and mature students. A selection of our summer school courses are specifically designed for advanced musicians pursuing a career in music. There’s a selection process for these courses: full details online.

There are no lower or upper age limits on any of the Summer School courses, though most participants are adults. Courses are taught in an adult style and young children should expect to be sharing sessions and collaborating with adult musicians. It is up to each parent’s discretion to decide if they feel this is suitable for their child. Any under 16s must be always accompanied by a guardian.

The Summer School operates to a structure of timetabled sessions, allowing each participant to build a daily itinerary tailored to their personal interest and energy. The schedule for each course is advertised on our website, and full details will be outlined in your course pack on accepting your place.

All of our courses run differently with their own structure and teaching format. Some will take the form of group work sessions, whilst others a more like a traditional masterclass, some bridge both camps. For detailed information on the structure and teaching style of a particular course, please see the course listings or contact our Festival administrator.

Most frequently our courses begin at 10.30am on the start date and finish no late than 5.30pm. However, please note that the quantity of teaching time will vary depending on the courses which you choose to follow. If you have any questions about the format of the course which you have selected, please see the course listings or contact our Festival administrator.

Some courses offer performance opportunities as the culmination of the week, and many courses leaders choose to hold informal presentations of work in the final sessions. Details on this can be found in the individual course descriptions.

Our 2022 Summer School will be hosted virtually and on a popular video conferencing site. Full details of how to access these sessions will be given on acceptance of your place onto a course, and a detailed course pack will be sent.

Yes. Applicants are evaluated each year by the course tutor who will make a selection of students based on the merits of this submission.

All of the main courses at the Summer School run for the whole week, it is not possible to follow different courses on a day-by-day basis.

As a general rule, if you would be expected to bring your instrument to a concert as a performer, you will need to bring it to the Summer School. For example, a cello player will need to bring their instrument with them, but a pianist can expect to find an instrument in their course space.

Yes, we require all course participants to bring their own music stand. As part of our COVID-19 precautions there will not be any communal music stands in rehearsal spaces.

Some courses do require participants to use specific or allocated music. MusicFest Aberystwyth will provide copies of music scores required, when applicable.

If you decide before the festival that you wish to change one of your courses please contact our Festival administrator who will be able to advise on this matter.

Please consult our Terms and Conditions for full information on cancellation procedures.

Bookings for courses are open right until the start of each week. Many courses will fill up early, for the most popular courses sometimes as early as May in a given year. We recommend booking as soon as you are ready to confirm your plans.

We ask all visitors to follow Welsh Government guidelines with regards social distancing. We will mark out guides on floors next to areas where people may congregate such as the Box Office.

We will restrict the number of people allowed in each room or auditorium, in accordance with current guidelines.

We will provide alternative ways of looking after you that minimizes your contact with other people – including cashless payments, online booking and takeaway services.

We will have hand sanitizing facilities throughout the building – by our main doors, outside all our toilets, in workshop spaces, offices and backstage. We ask that every visitor to the Arts Centre sanitizes their hands before entering the venue and will have sanitizing units by the main entrances.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre will be fully cleaned using appropriate products every day prior to opening. Then throughout our opening hours our Operations Team will be cleaning all ‘touch points’ (door handles, handrails etc.) and toilets on a regular rolling rota to make sure everything is kept clean. We’re very grateful to the whole team for keeping us safe. If you have any concerns, then please speak to our Duty Manager – they’ll be on hand for any questions or concerns you might have.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is lucky to have onsite parking adjacent to the venue. Although noted for their ‘snug’ spaces, we think that you should find them a lot quieter than usual as so many campus-based staff are currently working from home. If there’s space to park away from other cars that will help you minimize any chance of you breaking social distancing guidelines.

If you’re booking tickets for shows you will see that we now have an e-ticketing system in place.  Your e-ticket will be emailed to you, but you will still be able to pick up a printed ticket if you prefer when we reopen.  All tickets will have a barcode printed on them that gets scanned when you enter an event.

I can no longer attend an event, what should I do? Can I have a refund?

If for any reason you find you are unable to make a performance or screening you have booked seats for, your tickets can be returned up to two days in advance of a performance, and we will issue you with a full credit note.  Please click here for Aberystwyth Arts Centre full T&Cs, including the cancellation and refund policy.