On Saturday 15 August at 7pm, the Musikfest Bremen kicks off with the 25^th edition of its opening night “Eine grosse Nachtmusik”. Eighteen concerts spread across three time slots at nine venues offer abundant variety right from the start, with a carefully curated mix of genres, eras, stars and hidden gems reflecting the overall festival programme. Like a dazzling string of pearls, sumptuous orchestral music, sensual Baroque sounds, virtuoso chamber music and sizzling Latin and jazz rhythms are strung together to guarantee exquisite musical delights. The illuminations of all the venues around the market square, courtesy of lighting designer Christian Weisskircher, will ensure that the 25th anniversary festivities are a visual spectacle as well as a musical one.

The Musikfest audience can once again decide whether to attend one, two or three concerts to suit their individual taste. The Frankfurt Radio Symphony will take to the stage of the Glocke’s Great Auditorium under the baton of their principal conductor, Alain Altinoglu. Alongside Fazıl Say’s new piano concerto “Mother Earth”, they will also perform George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and “Rhapsody in Blue”. In the Small Auditorium, Katja Riemann, Franziska Hölscher and Marianna Shirinyan will present Camille Saint-Saëns’s “The Carnival of the Animals” with texts by Roger Willemsen. At St Petri Cathedral the Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi will perform one of Antonio Vivaldi’s most magnificent sacred works, the Gloria in D major, while at the Church Our Lady the Boston Early Music Festival Vocal & Chamber Ensembles will focus on laments, scherzi and madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi. At the Town Hall, violinist Alena Baeva, pianist Vadym Kholodenko, and cellist Kyril Zlotnikov will come together to form a world-class chamber music trio, performing works by Mozart and Schubert. Meanwhile at Haus Schütting, pianist Vsevolod Zavidov has chosen works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Franz Schubert and Igor Stravinsky for his Musikfest debut. The classical band SPARK will take the audience on a journey through several centuries of music by visionary female composers in the State Parliament Building. In the courtyard of the Forum am Domshof, the Robinson Khoury Trio will mix jazz, rock, oriental traditions and innovative electronica, while in the courtyard of the District Courthouse, the Roberto Fonseca Group will celebrate the golden age of Cuban music with “La Gran Diversión”.

In brief:
Event: Opening night 37th Musikfest Bremen 2026: “Eine grosse Nachtmusik” – 18 concerts around the market square
Date / time: Saturday 15 August, from 7 pm
Ticket price: per concert EUR 33.- (concessions 20%) (including booking fee)
Info / tickets: Box Office of the Glocke, Tel. +49 (0)4 21 / 33 66 99, and online at www.musikfest-bremen.de

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