Information for Summer Academy participants 2026

Here you will find practical information and updates regarding Voksenåsen Summer Academy.

Welcome to Voksenåsen!

Voksenåsen – a gift from Norway to Sweden 

Voksenåsen is Norway’s gift to Sweden as a thank-you for the humanitarian aid during World War II. The house is situated above Oslo bordering the recreational area Nordmarka, with views over the city and the Oslo fjord.  

Voksenåsen was opened in 1960 and is owned by the Swedish Ministry of Culture. It offers a varied program ranging from literary events, concerts and the celebration of the Swedish midsummer, to courses in music, language and democracy for youth and young adults.  

Voksenåsen also holds a large collection of contemporary Norwegian and Swedish art, as well as a restaurant, accommodation, bar and a large patio overlooking all of Oslo and the surrounding area.

Summer Academy 2026

Welcome to Voksenåsen – a piece of Sweden in Norway – and our Summer Academy.   

Over the past 30 years, Voksenåsens’ Summer Academy has grown immensely thanks to all the teachers, staff, and students that have been involved. With their hard work, the Summer Academy has expanded and internationalized, bringing together talented students and renowned teachers from all around the world. Thanks to our Artistic Directors, Peter Herresthal, Randi Stene and Andreas Sundén, the quality of the strings, winds and voice courses have reached an elite level.   

Voksenåsen Music Academies are not limited to the Summer Academy. Voksenåsen offers other academies for chamber groups, vocal teachers, composers and so forth. See more here.  

General Information

Communication

All important notices, announcements, schedule changes etc. will be posted in our Whatsapp group chat. Please join here. You only need to join the group that is for your instrument. Remember to turn on your notifications!

Food & beverages

All meals will be served in the restaurant at Voksenåsen. A coffee/tea card costs 199kr and can be purchased in the reception. A coffee/tea card includes unlimited coffee/tea throughout the whole week from our coffee machines in the cafe area. Espresso, cappucino etc. can be purchased in the bar.

There is a trolley for dirty dishes provided during each meal. Please clean up after yourself.

The night-time snack is available in the restaurant between 21:00 and 21:45. There are bags available to pack your meal should you want to eat it later or elsewhere.

You may purchase snacks or drinks from the bar in the reception. The nearest grocery store in 10 min away by subway.

Schedule

Updated schedules are posted in the Café area, behind the reception. We will post any changes to the schedules in the Whatsapp group chat.

Documentation

Team Summer Academy will throughout the week take pictures and film participants and teachers. The material will be used for our own documentation and for promotional use on our homepage, social medial channels and printed media. We do not pass the images on to any third party. If you wish to be excluded from any pictures or films, please contact Tuva Kårstad from the administration team at tuva@voksenaasen.no.

Where is my class?

Ethical guidelines

General

Summer Academy Voksenåsen follows the same guidelines for ethical conduct in education as Norwegian universities and colleges. For an example, please visit Norwegian Academy of Music at www.nmh.no.

Sexual harassment

Voksenåsen Summer Academy operates with a zero tolerance against any kind of unwanted sexual attention or harassment. If you yourself experience, or if you are witness to, unwanted sexual attention or harassment, we want you to contact the on-duty staff immediately.

You can also contact the head of Voksenåsen Music Academies, Anna Florén:  

anna@voksenaasen.no / +47 416 95 189, or Voksenåsen’s CEO, Maria af Klinteberg Herresthal: maria@voksenaasen.no / +47 900 10 546.

Alcohol and drug policy

Voksenåsen is a hotel with a license to serve alcohol. As such, we follow the Norwegian national regulations on how to serve alcohol. We do not serve or allow students under the age of 18 to drink alcohol on any occasion and it is not allowed to bring your own alcohol to the hotel.

Regardless of age, we will not serve persons clearly under the influence of alcohol. Teachers and coordinators at the Summer Academy are encouraged to be good role models. Please note that marijuana is an illegal drug in Norway and is not permitted. Any student/teacher possessing illegal drugs will be expelled from Voksenåsen Summer Academy.

House concerts

There will be house concerts roughly every night, which you can sign up for. All the concert programmes will be approved by the Artistic Directors. 

Note: It is not possible for all the students to participate in the concerts, and normally most students want to participate the last few days.  We therefore encourage you to sign up for concerts earlier in the week (even Monday) to have greater opportunities to participate in a concert. 

To sign up for the house concert, please send a message to our admin on whatsapp, before dinner.

Thank you to our partners!

The Summer Academy is continuously evolving, with the Norwegian Academy of Music as its main collaborative partner. The Summer Academy also cooperates closely with the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Royal College of Music in London, The Royal Danish Academy of Music, School of Music Ingesund,  Dextra Musica, Sparebankstiftelsen and the Swedish – Norwegian Cooperation Fund. 

Commonly asked questions: