The 37^th Musikfest Bremen promises exquisite concerts of the highest calibre, with over 45 events between 15 August and 4 September. Famous stars and talented young musicians will offer new interpretations of popular masterpieces as well as rare gems waiting to be discovered, all with fiery passion and captivating sophistication – in Bremen, Bremerhaven and a selection of venues across north-west Germany.

Now in its 25th edition, the festival’s opening night „Eine grosse Nachtmusik“ sets the tone with a musical and visual Gesamtkunstwerk around the market square. Spread across three time slots, eighteen concerts at nine venues will feature music ranging from opulent symphonic splendour and angelic singing to groovy jazz rhythms. Artists performing include the hr-Sinfonieorchester and Alain Altinoglu with soloist Fazıl Say (piano), the Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi, the Boston Early Music Festival Vocal & Chamber Ensembles, the classical band SPARK, the Robinson Khoury Trio and the Roberto Fonseca Group.

The programme for the next three weeks of the festival is equally compelling. Quatuor Ebène’s Beethoven Cycle offers a rare opportunity to experience all 16 of the composer’s string quartets in a short space of time over six evenings at the Glocke. „Mythos Europa”, featuring the UK as this year's guest country, shines a spotlight on the country's rich musical history and some of its leading musicians. These include countertenor Alexander Chance and Fretwork, who will commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Dowland’s death with lute songs (18 August/Lilienthal). To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the vocal ensemble Tenebrae will perform works by contemporary British composers Kerensa Briggs and Sarah Henderson (22 August/Lindern), whilst the ensemble Près de votre oreille will immerse the audience in the world of William Lawes, the court composer to King Charles I (27 August/Rhede). Meanwhile, The Gesualdo Six will also be representing the famous British choral tradition (28 August/Kulturkirche St. Stephani), while the current rising star of the British classical music scene, organist Anna Lapwood, will be making an appearance (3 September/St Petri Cathedral). Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the grand seigneur of the British early music movement, presents two pivotal choral works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Symphony No. 2, „Lobgesang“, or Hymn of Praise) and Johannes Brahms „Schicksalslied“, or Song of Destiny) with his new ensembles, The Constellation Choir & Orchestra (28 August/Glocke). The closing concert features a programme of works by Schumann with Sir Simon Rattle, another one of the world's most renowned British conductors, at the helm of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (4 September/Glocke).

Other highlights include a performance by tenor Rolando Villazón and Christina Pluhar’s ensemble L’Arpeggiata, following in the footsteps of Orpheus (18 August/Glocke), as well as by Vox Luminis and Lionel Meunier, who will perform one of the most daring masterpieces of sacred music: Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (30 August/Verden Cathedral). Teodor Currentzis and his Utopia Choir and Orchestra will perform Brahms’ Requiem at the site of its world premiere (24 August/St Petri Cathedral), while the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė, will combine Brahms’ Second Symphony with Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, featuring María Dueñas as the soloist (1 September/Glocke). Renowned singers performing at the festival include sopranos Julia Lezhneva (with Il Giardino Armonico) and Nicole Chevalier (with the Bremen Philharmonic) as well as tenor Benjamin Bernheim. Chevalier presents a Verdi gala with the Bremen Philharmonic (26 August/Glocke), while Lezhneva and Il Giardino Armonico set the stage alight with a baroque extravaganza of Vivaldi arias (27 August/Glocke). Meanwhile Bernheim bridges the gap between French art songs and world-famous chansons (2 September/Glocke). Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński weaves together arias, cantatas and madrigals from the early Italian Baroque with Il Pomo d’Oro (29 August/Glocke), while the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and soloists breathe new life into Joseph Haydn’s opera „L’isola disabitata“ (30 August/Oldenburg State Theatre). Two winners of the Chopin Competition, Bruce Liu (25 August/Glocke) and Yulianna Avdeeva (2 September/Gödens Castle), will present recitals, while pianist Giorgi Gigashvili will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the German National Youth Orchestra under the baton of Aurel Dawidiuk (29 August/Stadttheater Bremerhaven). Georg Nigl, Nicholas Ofczarek and Vladimir Jurowski have curated a musical and literary programme based on Karl Kraus’s „The Last Days of Mankind“ (23 August/Bremen Town Hall), while Jens Harzer and the delian::quartett explore Rainer Maria Rilke’s „The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge“ (30 August/Worpswede). The Arp-Schnitger Festival's repertoire selection focuses on Johann Sebastian Bach, and concludes with the Musikfest Atelier „Wege zu Bach“, featuring a selection of his motets (18–23 August). „Katharinas Hofmusik“, the second Musikfest Atelier for young musicians led by renowned tutors, also returns (16 August/Jever).

There is still plenty of room for music off the beaten classical track! Horn player Sarah Willis presents her „Mozart y Mambo“ project with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra (16 August/Cloppenburg), the Roberto Fonseca Trio combines jazz with Afro-Cuban influences (17 August/Cuxhaven), while Kurt Elling performs standards from the Great American Songbook, accompanied by the hr-BigBand (21 August/Glocke). Martynas Levickis (1 September/Mercedes-Benz Customer Centre) and Richard Galliano with his New Viaggio Trio (3 September/Glocke) celebrate the accordion as „Instrument of the Year“.

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: 15% on all tickets until 10 May 2026

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