Kölner Akademie

The Kölner Akademie, in English the Cologne Academy, is a historical-performance ensemble based in Cologne, Germany. Strongly committed to the idea of authentic performance, the group emphasizes historically documented performance practices, approximates the number of performers a work would have had in its own time, and uses editions of the music that come as close as possible to what composers wrote down or intended. Despite (or perhaps because of) this specialist focus, the Kölner Akademie has had an unusually vigorous recording career, including 2021's Weber: Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra. The 2025 release, Vienna Mandolin Stories, saw the group explore late-18th and early-19th century repertoires.