Heidelberger Frühling
Since 1997, the stars of the classical music scene and promising young artists have been guests at the Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival, the core of which is the encounter of people through music. In 2022, the Musikfestival celebrated its 25th birthday.
Each festival edition is unique: every year, new programmatic focuses are set, inviting a change of perspective and a re-examination of supposedly old familiar things. In addition to the Musikfestival, the Heidelberger Frühling organizes the Streichquartettfest, the Liedfestival, the competition "Das Lied" and the year-round series Kammermusik +. In 2016, the Heidelberger Frühling Liedzentrum was also founded to promote the Lied. In total, Heidelberger Frühling offers around 125 events per season as a year-round music organizer.
Since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Igor Levit has been Co-artistic Director of the Musikfestival alongside Artistic Director Thorsten Schmidt. The next edition will take place from 15 March to 13 April 2024, under the title "Brahms!" and will focus on the chamber music and solo piano works of Johannes Brahms.
In January, lovers of the special musical genre of the string quartet meet in Heidelberg. The four-day Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest offers a wide range of concerts, lectures, workshops, and readings to fully engage with this royal genre of chamber music. It is considered the first festival of its kind to focus entirely on string quartets.
In June, the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival promotes those who continue to think about the Lied in a creative way and continually break new ground. The Liedfestival pursues the mission of presenting the genre in a wide variety of formats and providing a platform for experimental and unconventional concepts and forms of performance.
Kammermusik+ is the chamber music series for Heidelberg. Every month, soloists and ensembles from the top ranks of the international chamber music scene give guest performances in the Aula of Alte Universität Heidelberg.
The Heidelberger Frühling Liedzentrum preserves and renews the cultural heritage of European art song, which is firmly anchored in Heidelberg. In concerts and festivals, the Liedakademie under the artistic direction of Thomas Hampson and in the biennial Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb "Das Lied" with jury chairman Thomas Quasthoff, as well as other artistic projects, the phenomenon "Lied" can unfold creatively and innovatively in all its manifestations.
