The Lucerne Festival has unveiled a significant change for its contemporary music platform, Forward, appointing composer and clarinettist Jörg Widmann as the festival’s new curator and reshaping the event around a concept that connects the music of the past with contemporary creation.
The announcement marks the first major programming initiative from Widmann since becoming Artistic Director of the Lucerne Festival Academy, a position he assumed earlier this year. Rather than presenting contemporary music as an isolated field, the 2026 edition will explore how today’s composers respond to the legacy of a single historical figure—in this case, Robert Schumann.
Scheduled for 20–22 November 2026, Forward will centre on five concerts examining what Widmann describes as the “echoes” of Schumann in contemporary music. Instead of juxtaposing old and new works, the festival aims to create direct dialogues between Schumann’s compositions and responses by living composers, including Heinz Holliger, Christian Jost, György Kurtág, Aribert Reimann, and Widmann himself.
The programme reflects a broader curatorial trend increasingly seen at international festivals: replacing chronological programming with thematic narratives that invite audiences to hear historical repertoire through a contemporary lens.
Performers will include artists from several generations, among them Matthias Goerne, Fatma Said, Sir András Schiff, Johanna Summer, Antoine Tamestit, Heinz Holliger, and Widmann, who will appear both as conductor and clarinettist. The festival will conclude with a piano lecture by Widmann exploring the continuing modernity of Schumann’s music.
Forward itself has evolved since its launch in 2021. While the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) remains the festival’s resident ensemble, the event is now being repositioned around a different artistic concept each year rather than functioning solely as a showcase for new music. According to Festival Executive and Artistic Director Sebastian Nordmann, the aim is to make contemporary music more approachable while strengthening its connections with audiences.
The 2026 edition will also expand the festival’s physical footprint. Its opening concert will be held at the KKV Chamber Music Hall in Vitznau before the remaining performances move to Lucerne’s KKL Concert Hall. For the first time in the festival’s history, the LFCO will also perform in large orchestral forces.
Among the Schumann works forming the backbone of the programme are Märchenerzählungen, Märchenbilder, Dichterliebe, and Nachtlied for chorus and orchestra, each paired with contemporary works intended not as tributes but as conversations across nearly two centuries of musical history.
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