ABS ACADEMY JULY 27–AUGUST 9 2020
Applications Due February 28 2020
The 2020 American Bach Soloists (ABS) Academy will take place July 27-August 9, 2020 in San Francisco.  The ABS Academy  is an advanced training program for emerging professionals and accomplished students of historically informed performance practice. Thanks to Academy sponsors, the tuition-free program will enable the very best of the world’s emerging early music performers to study in what will now be an even more exclusive mentoring environment. Artistic Director Jeffrey Thomas said, “The potential for sharing, growth, and professional advancement is now even greater. I join my faculty colleagues at the ABS Academy in being tremendously excited by this recent and critically important enhancement to our program.”

Drawing on their distinguished roster of performers—named “the best American specialists in early music” by  The Washington Post —the ABS Academy offers advanced conservatory-level students and young professionals unique opportunities to study and perform Baroque music in a multi-disciplinary learning environment. In addition to in-depth coachings and technical studies with masters of their instruments, string players, wind and brass players, continuo and keyboard players, and singers work together with all faculty members, gaining the perspectives of eminent and highly acclaimed professional artists.
The Academy was founded in 2010 with the purpose of providing mentorship and artistic support to those musicians who are seeking to bridge the gap between advanced conservatory, university, or personal studies and an emerging career, either as soloists, chamber musicians, or with professional early music institutions.

The Academy is held in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s exquisite facilities in the heart of the city’s arts district. Located two blocks from Davies Symphony Hall (home of the San Francisco Symphony) and the War Memorial Opera House (home of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet companies), the Conservatory offers state-of-the-art performance halls, classrooms, practice rooms, and teaching studios. Nearby housing is available at nominal cost to students. Jeffrey Thomas (artistic director of ABS) and Corey Jamason (principal keyboardist for ABS and director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s program in Early Music) are co-directors of the Academy. ​
FACULTY
Elizabeth Blumenstock 
violin & viola

Corey Jamason 
harpsichord

Steven Lehning 
violone/contrabass

Judith Malafronte 
voice

Robert Mealy 
violin & viola

Sandra Miller 
flute

Debra Nagy 
oboe/recorder
William Sharp 
voice

William Skeen 
violoncello

Kenneth Slowik 
viola da gamba & violoncello

Dominic Teresi
bassoon

John Thiessen 
trumpet & horn

Jeffrey Thomas 
conductor

Clay Zeller-Townson
bassoon
ABS Academy welcomes bassoonist Clay Zeller-Townson
For the 2020 program, Clay Zeller-Townson will join Dominic Teresi as faculty for the bassoon studio. He plays with the leading period instrument ensembles in North America, including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Wall Street, Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, American Bach Soloists and Musica Angelica. He is the founder of the critically-acclaimed baroque band, Ruckus.
We Thank our Sponsors

The American Bach Soloists are grateful for the support of these and other Foundations, Corporations, Government Agencies, and Individual Sponsors