Lilli Lehmann founded the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in 1916. At the beginning only private voice lessons were offered within the premises of the Mozarteum. In 1925 Willy Schweyda gave the first violin class. Classes in piano, composition, conducting and opera were added in 1929 thanks to the sponsorship of American Julian Freedman. Between 1930–1937 the "Academy" was known as "Musical Summer Courses", from 1937 to 1940 as "The Mozarteum Summer Academy" for Music, Theatre and Dance, and between 1940 to 1944 as "Summer Academy for Foreigners at the Mozarteum".
