With world-class performances of the highest quality, the 36^th Musikfest Bremen invites you to indulge and listen and be amazed on a journey of discovery into enchanting worlds full of music. From 16 August to 6 September, famous stars and talented young musicians will make live concerts an unforgettable experience at more than 50 events in Bremen, Bremerhaven and a selection of venues across north-west Germany.

The festivities kick off in style with the traditional opening night „Eine große Nachtmusik“ around Bremen’s market square. 18 concerts in three time slots at nine venues offer audiences a wide range of repertoire and artists. Marc Minkowski & Les Musiciens du Louvre, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, The Breathtaking Collective & Cappella Mariana, Il Pomo d'Oro & Maxim Emelyanychev, Giorgi Gigashvili, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Félicien Brut & Thobaut Garcia & Lucienne Renaudin Vary, the Alfredo Rodriguez Quintet and Ida Nielsen & The Funkbots feat. Zap Mama have all been invited. Right from the start, the spotlight will be on France as the partner country of „Mythos Europa“, with a „who’s who“ of our western neighbours’ music scene to follow over the next three weeks.

Before it all begins, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will give a special concert with star pianist Lang Lang under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. The world famous orchestral conductors invited by the festival for the following three weeks are in the same league: From Teodor Currentzis (with the Utopia Orchestra, 20 August/Glocke) and Nicholas Collon (with the Aurora Orchestra, 30 August/Glocke) to Robin Ticciati (with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, 31 August/Glocke) and Maxim Emelyanychev with both Il Pomo d'Oro (16 August/Rathaus and 17 August/Barßel) and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (5 September/Glocke) through to Tarmo Peltokoski. For their production of Mozart’s „Magic Flute“, the Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen has assembled a brilliant young cast led by Elsa Dreisig, Mauro Peter and Kathryn Lewek (27 August/Glocke). The list of celebrated singers goes on and on: Countertenor Alois Mühlbacher immerses himself in the music of Vivaldi with the Pallidor Ensemble (20 August/Cloppenburg), baritone Georg Nigl follows in the footsteps of Shakespeare and Schubert in his Musical Salons (21 August/Rathaus) and Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund celebrates the 200^th anniversary of the Bremen Philharmonic with the final arias of Brünnhilde and Salome (28 August/Glocke). While South African soprano Golda Schultz introduces herself with songs by Weill, Bernstein, Gershwin & Co (31 August/Glocke), French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre turns to Handel’s English oratorios and semi-operas with the Ensemble Jupiter (3 September/Glocke) and Samoan-born tenor Pene Pati makes his Musikfest debut with Neapolitan canzoni (4 September/Glocke). The line-up of stellar pianists is equally impressive, ranging from Khatia Buniatishvili (17 August/Glocke) and Alexander Melnikov (20 August/Glocke) to Lucas Debargue (22 August/Castle Gödens), Francesco Tristano (22 August/Glocke) and Lukas Sternath (29 August/Mercedes-Benz Customer Centre Bremen). The choice of other instrumentalists also speaks for itself: Nicolas Altstaedt, Ilya Gringolts and Lawrence Power get together to form a virtuoso string trio (17 August/Worpswede) and the Quatuor Van Kuijk juxtaposes Beethoven with the French impressionists Ravel and Fauré (21 August/Apen). The Nevermind Quartet will introduce their audience to gems of Baroque chamber music by Jean-Baptiste Quentin and Georg Philipp Telemann (2 September/Lilienthal), while the Janoska Ensemble will give Vivaldi’s „Four Seasons“ a makeover (28 August/Wilhelmshaven). Violinist Alena Baeva brings a repertoire classic with Beethoven's Violin Concerto (30 August/Glocke), as does cellist Anastasia Kobekina with Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 (5 September/Glocke), while violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing has chosen Nordic composers for her Musikfest debut (19 August/Papenburg).

Camille Delaforgue and the ensemble Il Caravaggio make their debut with Mozart’s early sacred singspiel „Die Schuldigkeit des letzten Gebots“ (19 August/ Unser Lieben Frauen Kirche), while the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin combines Palestrina with Arvo Pärt (28 August/Westerstede). Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks will perform Mozart’s requiem (29 August/Verden), while the Freiburger BarockConsort and Vox Luminis present Heinrich Ignaz Biber's Requiem (30 August/Kulturkirche St. Stephani). Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel reconstruct a grandiose festive mass from the time of the Medicis in Florence (2 September/St. Petri Dom) and Philippe Herreweghe, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and the Collegium Vocale Gent juxtapose Beethoven’s „Eroica“ Symphony with Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor (3 September/Löningen). Julien Chauvin and Le Concert de la Loge take a similar approach by combining Mozart's unfinished Great Mass in C minor with his symphonic testament, the „Jupiter“ Symphony (4 September/Bremerhaven). „Wege zu Bach“ (Paths to Bach) is the unifying theme of this year’s Arp Schnitger Festival (19-24 August), which pays tribute to the work of the Thomaskantor and his environs as well as the magnificent organ landscape surrounding Bremen. In addition to the Musikfest Atelier marking the end of the Arp Schnitger Festival, two further Ateliers will offer week-long workshops for young musicians from all over the world, led by renowned tutors (17 August/Jever and 30 August/Burg zu Hagen).

There is still plenty of room for music off the beaten classical track with Dhafer Youssef & Band (21 August/Glocke), Kandace Springs & WDR Big Band (23 August/Glocke), the Richard Galliano Trio (26 August/Obere Rathaushalle) and Somi & Band (31 August/Cuxhaven), before techno marching band MEUTE comes to Bremen for the grand open-air finale (6 September/Marktplatz).

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: 15% on all tickets until 14 April (except extra concert on 9 August)

Tickets & Info: Box Office of the Glocke (Tel. +49 (0) 421 / 33 66 99, Mo-Fr 12-18 h, Sat 11-14 h) as well as www.musikfest-bremen.de and www.nordwest-ticket.de

Further information for editors:
Musikfest Bremen gGmbh, Carsten Preisler, tel. +49 (0) 421/33 66-660, e-mail: preisler@musikfest-bremen.de