Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Courses of International New Music in Darmstadt), as a gathering with lectures and concerts over several summer weeks. Composers, performers, theorists and philosophers of contemporary music met first annually until 1970, and then biennially. The event was organised by the Kranichsteiner Musikinstitut, which was renamed Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD). It is regarded as a leading international forum of contemporary and experimental music with a focus on composition. The festival awards the for performers and young composers. History Overview The Ferienkurse were initiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, then responsible for culture in the municipal government of Darmstadt. He directed them until his death in 1961, succeeded by (1962–81), Friedrich Ferdinand Hommel (1981–94), Solf Schaefer (1995–2009), and Thomas Schäfer, who has been artistic director and president of the IMD from 2009. The courses were first held annually, lasting for about twelve days. From 1970, they have been held biennially for two to three weeks. The first venue was Jagdschloss Kranichstein, a rural hunting lodge in Darmstadt. Beginning in 1949, public buildings in Darmstadt have been used not only for some concerts as in the beginning, but also for courses. Background The Ferienkurse were founded to reconnect Germany to the international scene in classical music, as modernist forms of classical music (such as expressionist music, the Second Viennese School and serialism) had been systematically suppressed by the Nazis from 1933 as "degenerate music". During that time, representatives of the modernist movement had been expelled, silenced, or murdered. Beginning The first event in 1946 offered courses in conducting by Carl Mathieu Lange, musical composition by Wolfgang Fortner, piano by Georg Kuhlmann, voice by Elisabeth Delseit, violin by Günter Kehr, opera direction by Bruno Hey and Walter Jockisch, and music criticism by Fred Hamel. A first series were courses, lectures and concerts from 25 August to 21 September. They were followed by public concerts and lectures, titled "Internationale zeitgenössische Musiktage" (International contemporary music days) from 22 to 29 September, held in collaboration with the city of Darmstadt, its Landestheater, and the broadcasters Süddeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Frankfurt. Events included an exhibition of the Neue Darmstädter Sezession, "Zeitgenössische deutsche Kunst", and also Carl Orff's opera Die Kluge, and the award ceremony of