A week by
the lake
Seven nights on a private forest peninsula. Music all day, the lake all around. All 30 places are taken: join the waiting list.
The community gathers
The Summer Seminar is the yearly in-person gathering of the Conservatory. Students from all over the world who study together online all year meet face to face, some for the first time, some again after another year.
In 2027 we meet in Lithuania, at Šiaurys: a private peninsula on a forest lake, with the whole place to ourselves for the week.
It's the highlight of my year. The warmth, the music, the people. It always feels like family coming together. A student, after last summer's seminar
A private peninsula in the forest
Šiaurys sits on three hectares of its own peninsula, on a lake in the Labanoras forest of eastern Lithuania. For the week the whole resort is ours. No other guests, only the group, the music and the water.
- LessonsA glass hall with a fireplace, looking out on the forest
- The lakeSwimming, and boats and paddle boards that are ours to use all week
- OptionalA guided SUP trip on the lake, €25, for anyone who would like to join it
- SaunaA wood-fired smoke sauna by the water, with birch whisks, teas and towels ready
- FireA tipi with a fireplace, and a grill zone by the water. Firewood for the fires and the sauna is included
- MealsThree vegetarian meals a day, cooked on site by local hosts, with dietary needs taken care of
A week of playing together
Five full days of two lessons each, four to five hours a day, and a free day in the middle for the private sessions with Yshai, rest, practice and the lake. A last lesson on the final morning closes the week. These are the threads that run through the week.
Compositions & singing
Deep work on Yshai's original compositions: learning them, taking them in, and performing them together as an ensemble, with singing woven through. The voice and the hands move as one.
Improvisation
Knowing when to play and when to stay silent, how to answer what you hear, and how to say something real in the moment. These lessons build the ability to listen, to take risks, and to find your own voice inside the music.
Group composing
In small groups, students take on a composing task that grows across the week, then play what they've made for everyone at the end. Something of your own, built as a team.
Song accompaniment
Playing in service of a song, with Sharon Mansur at the piano: holding the groove under the melody, leaving space, and making everyone around you sound better.
A private session with Yshai
Alongside the group lessons, each of you has private time with Yshai during the week: one to one, on your own playing and the questions you bring, and on where to take it next. It is part of the week for everyone.
Dawn and dusk on the water
Mornings start with mist rising off the lake. Evenings belong to the sauna, the fire in the tipi, the pier and the sky over the water.
Three houses, fifteen bedrooms
The group shares three wooden houses on the peninsula. Every bedroom is shared.
One price, €1,050, covers the whole week: your bed in a shared room, three vegetarian meals a day, every lesson, your private session and the airport transfer.
Sharon Mansur
Sharon joins us for the week. She leads the song accompaniment lessons with Yshai, and the two of them close the seminar with a duo concert for everyone there.
Percussion and piano, in conversation.
Sharon Mansur's music moves between jazz, classical, Middle Eastern and electronic worlds. She has toured internationally, and her debut album, Trigger, was released on the ACT Music label.
Fly into Vilnius
Šiaurys is about 70 km from Vilnius. Book a flight that lands at Vilnius Airport by 1 pm on Monday: a shared transfer takes the whole group out together, and back on Monday 23. It is included in the price.
- Mon 16Land at Vilnius Airport by 1 pm. The group transfer leaves from the airport; at Šiaurys around 3 pm
- Mon 23We leave Šiaurys by 11 am and the transfer takes us back to the airport. Book a flight home that leaves at 4 pm or later
For the community only
The seminar is only for the Conservatory's community: students who study with Yshai now, or have studied with him before, in groups or privately. It is not open to the public.
- Current group students, from any year or instrument
- Current private students
- Anyone who has studied with Yshai before
- All levels, from beginners to advanced players
One price for the whole week
The shared transfer from and to Vilnius Airport is included too. The only extra is a guided SUP trip on the lake, €25, for anyone who would like it.
Pay it all at once, or €100 now to hold your place and the rest in one, three or five payments, all by 1 May 2027.
Sold out
All 30 places were taken five days after registration opened. Leave your details for the waiting list: if a place opens, or if we open another seminar, you will hear from us first.
For the 30 who registered: if you cannot come
- Until 1 May 2027: everything is refunded except the €100 deposit, and any payments still to come are cancelled.
- 1 May to 1 June: half of the €1,050 is refunded.
- After 1 June: no refund, unless someone from the waiting list takes your place.
- At any time: you can pass your place to another student.
Where we have gathered
Earlier seminars were held at Re-Green, a stone retreat in the mountains of the Peloponnese, with a river and a waterfall on the grounds.
