It is known for its transcultural and transnational perspective which supports an international learning community, for the pedagogical approach of its founder, Alan Bern, and for its commitment to the creation and presentation of historically informed, contemporary Yiddish artistic production.

In 1998, the band Brave Old World was invited by the European Summer Academy to teach a 3-day workshop in Yiddish music and dance in Weimar, Germany, followed by a concert.

[1] The following year, the city of Weimar was designated a European Capital of Culture and Brave Old World was invited back to teach a week-long workshop followed by a concert.

[2][3][4] Klezmer music, a genre originating in Eastern Europe and repopularized in the United States in the 1980s, had become popular in Germany in the 1990s due to foreign artists such as Brave Old World, The Klezmatics, Alex Jacobowitz and Giora Feidman, as well as German groups like Kasbek, Aufwind, Zupfgeigenhansel, and Karsten Troyke.

[5][6][7][8][9] A number of American and ex-Soviet klezmer and Yiddish musicians settled in Germany during this time, including Alan Bern (in 1989) and Joel Rubin.

During this time, public evening jam sessions in cafés became a prominent feature of the festival, giving students rich opportunities for informal learning and creating close connections with the general Weimar community.

[11] By 2006, the festival had outgrown both its original focus on klezmer music and the infrastructure provided by the Kulturbüro LaRete and the Kuratorium Schloß Ettersburg.

[3][34] In 2009 Weimar gave the nonprofit organization a 33-year, low cost lease on an unused, former school building; it became the home of the Other Music Academy (OMA), conceived as a new kind of cultural center dedicated to diversity, inclusion, individual and social empowerment and creativity.

[17][1] The festival's pedagogical approach has been developed by its founder Alan Bern, and distinguishes it from other annual Jewish or Yiddish music workshops.

[18][20][35] While the courses investigate Jewish culture and traditions, they are open to non-Jewish participants who often make up a significant portion of attendees, coming not only from Germany but a number of other countries.