The Berliner Festspiele has published the complete programme for Musikfest Berlin 2026, scheduled to take place from 28 August to 23 September. Organised in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, the festival marks the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. The season will feature 36 events, bringing together major Berlin ensembles and international orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Kansas City Symphony.
Festival opening and historical dialogue The festival will open with György Ligeti’s opera Le Grand Macabre, celebrating a composer who was central to the Berliner Festwochen since its inception in 1951. The 2026 programme is designed to reflect on the festival’s history, particularly its role in facilitating East-West dialogue during the 1970s and 1980s. Alongside the musical schedule, anniversary events are planned across various city venues, including the Gropius Bau and the Berlin circle railway.
World premieres and centenaries A significant highlight of the programme is a world premiere eight decades in the making:
- Yvonne Loriod: Her 15-movement orchestral poem La Sainte Face will receive its first performance 80 years after it was written, performed by the WDR Sinfonieorchester under Kent Nagano.
- Hans Werner Henze: To mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth on 1 July 2026, the festival will present Die Musen Siziliens, the piano concerto Tristan (with soloist Tamara Stefanovich), and Sinfonia No. 9.
International guest performances and operatic productions The programme includes several high-profile staged and semi-staged productions:
- Opera and stage works: A new production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess by Cape Town Opera and the Chineke! Orchestra, as well as Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht directed by Susanne Kennedy.
- Global perspectives: A focus on Australian heritage featuring works by Brett Dean, Cathy Milliken, and Liza Lim, with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
- Nō theatre: The Kanze Nō Theatre Ensemble will travel from Tokyo to perform at the Philharmonie Berlin, including a joint educational project with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.
Contemporary commissions The festival continues its commitment to new music with world premieres by Alex Nante, Márton Illés, and Enno Poppe, alongside works by Milica Djordjević and Clara Iannotta. In total, the season will feature over 60 works by 40 composers and more than 65 international soloists.
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This article was produced by the Moto Perpetuo editorial team.
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