Musikfest Berlin 2026
Dates
28.08. –23.09.2026
Organiser
Berliner Festspiele
Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker
Tickets
via Berliner Festspiele
Musikfest Berlin will take place from 28 August to 23 September 2026 in co-operation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation and marks the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. In 36 events at the Philharmonie Berlin, in its Chamber Music Hall, the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, more than 60 works will be presented by some 40 composers, performed by orchestras and choirs from the musical capital Berlin, by over 65 international soloists and more than 30 instrumental and vocal ensembles from Finland, Spain, the USA, Switzerland, Austria, South Africa, England, Japan and Germany, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, Le Concert des Nations, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony and the Chineke! Orchestra with Cape Town Opera.
Concerts and tickets
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Chineke! Orchestra
Enrique Mazzola conductor
Siyabulela Ntlale bass baritone (Porgy)
Nonhlanhla Yende mezzo-soprano (Bess)
Lukhanyo Moyake tenor (Sporting Life)
Conroy Scott baritone (Crown)
Brittany Smith soprano (Clara)
Siphamandla Moyake soprano (Serena)
Lungelwa Mdekazi mezzo-soprano (Maria)
Luvo Rasemeni baritone (Jake)
Tylor Lamani tenor (Nelson, Crabman)
Andile Tshoni tenor (Mingo)
Mthunzi Mbombela tenor (Robbins)
Siphesihle Mdena tenor (Peter)
Linda Nteleza mezzo-soprano (Lily)
Kenneth Kula baritone (Jim)
Sasha Damons mezzo-soprano (Strawberry Woman)
Danielle Speckman mezzo-soprano (Annie)
Garth Delport baritone (Undertaker)
Dean de Klerk (Detective)
Van Wyk Venter (Policeman/Coroner)
Cape Town Opera
Magdalene Minnaar director
Yaseen Manuel choreography
Antoinette Huyssen choir master
Jan Hugo assistant music director
Maritha Visagie costume designer, head of wardrobe
Erynn Troup stage manager
Malika Rosalind dramaturg, version editor
George Gershwin
Porgy and Bess
Ticket sales through the Berliner Festspiele
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Simone Young conductor
Francesco Piemontesi piano
Works by
Benjamin Britten, Gustav Mahler, Liza Lim and Ludwig van Beethoven
Benjamin Britten
Peter Grimes, op. 33a: Four Sea Interludes
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 10: 1st Movement Adagio
Liza Lim
Annunciation Triptych: 1. Sappho/Bioluminescence
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E flat major, op. 73
Francesco Piemontesi piano
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Works by
Manuel de Falla, Cathy Milliken and Leoš Janáček
Manuel de Falla
El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat), ballet music
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Interval
Cathy Milliken
why feather yellow, Concerto for Cor anglais and Orchestra (premiere), commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Leoš Janáček
Taras Bulba, Rhapsody for Orchestra
Musikfest Berlin
Chamber Music Hall
Ensemble Modern
Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart
Isabella Bartdorff speaker (tape)
SWR Experimentalstudio
Michael Acker, Johannes Burgert, Maurice Oeser, Eleni Ralli sound direction
Joachim Haas head of SWR Experimentalstudio
Works by
Clara Iannotta and Márton Illés
Clara Iannotta
They left us grief-trees wailing at the wall for 9 amplified instruments and electronics
Clara Iannotta
echo from afar (ii) for 6 musicians and electronics
Interval
Márton Illés
von mund zu mund for voices, ensemble and live electronics based on a text by Felix Reinhuber (premiere)
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Works by
Manuel de Falla, Cathy Milliken and Leoš Janáček
Manuel de Falla
El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat), ballet music
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Interval
Cathy Milliken
why feather yellow, Concerto for Cor anglais and Orchestra (premiere), commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Leoš Janáček
Taras Bulba, Rhapsody for Orchestra
Musikfest Berlin
Deutsche Oper
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
String Quartet from the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Ensemble Le Balcon choir
Ensemble Le Balcon musicians
Maxime Pascal musical direction
Tarren Johnson Performance
Marie Groothof Performance
Dominic Santia Performance
Ixchel Mendoza Performance
Laurie Young Performance
Susanne Kennedy stage direction
Markus Selg stage design and video
Andra Dumitrascu costumes
Marcel Weber light
Florent Derex Sounddesign
Jeremy Bines chorus master
Beate Breidenbach dramaturgy
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Mittwoch aus Licht (German premiere)
Ticket sales through the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Works by
Manuel de Falla, Cathy Milliken and Leoš Janáček
Manuel de Falla
El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat), ballet music
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano
Interval
Cathy Milliken
why feather yellow, Concerto for Cor anglais and Orchestra (premiere), commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation
Dominik Wollenweber cor anglais
Leoš Janáček
Taras Bulba, Rhapsody for Orchestra
Musikfest Berlin
Haus der Berliner Festspiele
The Puppeteers and their roles:
Edouard Funck, Ursula Winzer The Soldier
Philippe Brunner, Eva Wiener The Devil
Vladimir Fediakov, Maximilian Kiener-Laubenbacher The Princess
Veronika Grimme The King/The War Veteran
Marion Mayer The Herald/The Trumpeter
Philipp Schmidt The Drummer
Ensemble of the Salzburger Marionettentheater The Villagers
Dominique Horwitz speaker
Isabelle Faust violin
Pascal Moraguès clarinet
Giorgio Mandolesi bassoon
Reinhold Friedrich cornet
Ian Bousfield trombone
Wies de Boevé double bass
Raymond Curfs percussion
Matthias Bundschuh director and lighting
Georg Baselitz puppets and décor
Leonhard Winkler realisation of stage design and string puppets
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Late Night
Noah Bendix-Balgley violin
Brett Dean viola
Ludwig Quandt cello
Benjamin Hochman piano
Works by
Cathy Milliken, Brett Dean and Robert Schumann
Cathy Milliken
In Play In Play (dedicated to Marjorie Veronica Milliken, premiere)
Brett Dean
Imaginary Ballet
Robert Schumann
Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 47
Musikfest Berlin
Haus der Berliner Festspiele
The Puppeteers and their roles:
Edouard Funck, Ursula Winzer The Soldier
Philippe Brunner, Eva Wiener The Devil
Vladimir Fediakov, Maximilian Kiener-Laubenbacher The Princess
Veronika Grimme The King/The War Veteran
Marion Mayer The Herald/The Trumpeter
Philipp Schmidt The Drummer
Ensemble of the Salzburger Marionettentheater The Villagers
Dominique Horwitz speaker
Isabelle Faust violin
Pascal Moraguès clarinet
Giorgio Mandolesi bassoon
Reinhold Friedrich cornet
Ian Bousfield trombone
Wies de Boevé double bass
Raymond Curfs percussion
Matthias Bundschuh director and lighting
Georg Baselitz puppets and décor
Leonhard Winkler realisation of stage design and string puppets
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Musikfest Berlin
Haus der Berliner Festspiele
The Puppeteers and their roles:
Edouard Funck, Ursula Winzer The Soldier
Philippe Brunner, Eva Wiener The Devil
Vladimir Fediakov, Maximilian Kiener-Laubenbacher The Princess
Veronika Grimme The King/The War Veteran
Marion Mayer The Herald/The Trumpeter
Philipp Schmidt The Drummer
Ensemble of the Salzburger Marionettentheater The Villagers
Dominique Horwitz speaker
Isabelle Faust violin
Pascal Moraguès clarinet
Giorgio Mandolesi bassoon
Reinhold Friedrich cornet
Ian Bousfield trombone
Wies de Boevé double bass
Raymond Curfs percussion
Matthias Bundschuh director and lighting
Georg Baselitz puppets and décor
Leonhard Winkler realisation of stage design and string puppets
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Igor Stravinsky
Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Musikfest Berlin
Main Auditorium
Kanze Nō Theatre
Kiyokazu Kanze, XXVI. grand master of the Kanze School
Hagoromo ‒ Kaki Yamabushi ‒ Shakkyō
Hagoromo (The Robe of Feathers), Dramatic Noh play (anonymous, ca. 14th/15th century)
Kaki Yamabushi (The Persimmon Thief), Kyōgen comedy (anonymous, ca. 14th/15th century)
Shakkyō (The Stone Bridge), Dramatic Noh play in shortened form (Han-Noh) (anonymous, ca. 14th/15th century)
Sold by the Berliner Festspiele
Musikfest Berlin
Chamber Music Hall
School Concert
Kiyokazu Kanze XXVI. grand master of the Kanze School
A journey into the world of Nō theatre and traditional Japanese performing arts
A journey into the world of Nō theatre and traditional Japanese performing arts
Closed school event for students in grades 7–13.