Introduction Days

A new study, a new city, a new life! You are about to embark on a new phase in your life, which hopefully will bring you many new discoveries and new friends.

To make you feel at home as quickly as possible, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam organizes introduction days for all new students in the first week of the academic year. This week is all about getting acquainted with the school, with the city and, of course, with your fellow students from all over the world and from all departments, so you can quickly make fun and valuable contacts. Fixed parts of the programme are:

getting to know your fellow students from all departments: classical, jazz, pop, electronic music and music in education
A tour of the most important contacts and departments at the CvA
A tour of Amsterdam
making music together
having dinner together
a lot of fun!

Musical Kickoff with Orlando Ceder

On the first day of the 2025 Introduction Week, almost 400 new students gathered for a collective musical start to the academic year. Led by Orlando Ceder, Artist in Residence at the CvA, they rehearsed the Surinamese traditional Perun Perun and learned it as a multi-voiced arrangement in just one 90-minute session. Orlando was assisted by Rashidi Sanchez, a guest artists from the Conservatory of Suriname.
Here the group performs the song on the steps of the Public Library, next door to the CvA.

Student Stories

Emilia Trojer studies Composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She is an international student, originally from Austria. Last year, she participated in the Introduction days.

What did the introduction days look like?
The first day we formed groups and explored Amsterdam. It was cool to walk through the city and to get to know my fellow students - not just from the classical department, but also from the Jazz, AEMA and Pop department. From the second day on, the programme became more specific. I study Composition, so it was focused on the classical department. We received general information and participated in workshops.

Was there an activity that stood out to you during the introduction days?
I remember two. The first moment was during the plenary opening, when we were all sitting in the Bernard Haitinkzaal and someone tried to show how many countries were represented. They read out each country from the list, and it turned out I was the only person from Austria. That was quite funny, especially since the whole room would sometimes cheer loudly for certain countries.

The second thing that stood out was a workshop about consent. I did not expect that. It was interesting and it felt good to know that the school cares about this subject!

Do you have advice for new students going into the introduction days?
Everyone is new, so you are not alone! You get to know the city and to explore the school with others who, like you, don’t know anything about it yet. Try to be open and to talk to as many people as possible, because you don’t know who your friends or colleagues in the future will be!