Since its premiere in 2007, the SCL festival has evolved from a first-class competition in one of the most renowned music locations in the world to a festival that also hosts events in some of Vienna's most notable historical venues, has entered into cooperations with important cultural institutions and has experienced broad acceptance and support by local and international decision makers in the field of culture and politics.
Some of the venue highlights of the SCL-festival 2008 include:
- - The opening ceremony held in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Austria's landmark built in 1143 and a symbol of Austrian identity
- - Workshops and seminars held in the University of Music in Vienna, one of the largest arts universities in the world
- - The Gala Winner's concert, held in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, witnessed by 400 youths from 45 countries participating in the Global Young Leader's Conference
- - The closing ceremony held in the magnificent Festival Hall of Vienna's City Hall, hosted by the Mayor of Vienna
- - Additional concerts held in some of Vienna's most reputable cultural institutions such as:
- The Austrian National Library, featuring the largest baroque library in Europe and one of the most beautiful historical libraries in the world; accompanying the festival is an exhibition of some of the library's most precious pieces related to music
- The Liechtenstein Museum, housing one of the most important private art collections worldwide
- The Imperial Festival Palace in Schlosshof,
a magnificent baroque complex only recently rebuilt in one of Austria's most ambitious post-war cultural projects - St. Charles Church, another of Vienna's greatest buildings and the most beautiful and interesting baroque cathedral north of the Alps
- The "Haus der Musik", an interactive discovery museum located in the former Palais of Archduke Charles and awarded the Austrian Museum Prize for innovative design
- In the "Hofburg", the Habsburg’s former imperial residence, today’s seat of the Austrian Federal President, a concert takes place witnessed by 200 participants of the Model OSCE Conference from 35 countries
The SCL festival has received the cooperation of the following institutions:
- - The United Nations headquarters in Vienna; a concert featuring five choirs from five continents takes place in the Rotunda of the Vienna International Center.
- - The SCL festival is a partner of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 and is supported by the European Commission, the OSCE, Austria's Cultural Ministry and the City of Vienna
- - The "Wiener Ferienspiel", the city's biggest children's holiday program; participants get the opportunity to visit the festival's venues and are instructed by students specialized in music education
The Summa Cum Laude festival sees itself not only as one of the premier youth music events in Europe, but also as a continuous work in progress that will further evolve and build bridges in the cultural arena and provide a unique platform for the world's most talented youth choirs, bands and orchestras.
- The United Nations headquarters in Vienna; a concert featuring five choirs from five continents takes place in the Rotunda of the Vienna International Center.
Award of the City of Vienna for the best performers in the Competition
