Zurück zur WebsiteThe Heidelberger Frühling was founded in 1997 as a classical music festival and has since developed into a year-round cultural institution that organizes several festivals, concert series, conferences and various support programmes for young artists.
Since 1997, the stars of the classical music scene and promising young artists have been guests in Heidelberg in the spring. The core of the festival is the meeting of people through music. The artists, the audience and the festival team are in lively exchange.
Each festival edition is unique. In addition to the programmes and artists, the framework of a performance comes into focus. Each year, new focus points are set, inviting a change of perspective and a reconsideration of the supposedly familiar.
Since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Igor Levit has joined Intendant Thorsten Schmidt as Co-Artistic Director of the Musikfestival. Together, they pursue the goal of further advancing the music festival as a platform for up-and-coming artists and for format development. They define it as a space for discourse and a meeting place for ideas. The focus of the collaboration is on collaboration with other cultural partners, the inclusion of current communication possibilities in the digital realm, and ecologically sustainable program development.
The next edition of the Musikfestival will take place from March 15 to April 13, 2024.
In January, lovers of the special musical genre of the string quartet meet in Heidelberg. It is considered the first festival of its kind to focus entirely on string quartets. The four-day Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest offers a great density of concerts, lectures, workshops or readings to fully engage in the intensive study of this royal genre of chamber music. The personal exchange between the international quartets, selected artistic guests and the audience during, between and after the concerts makes up the unique character of this festival.
The next edition of the Streichquartettfest will take place from January 18 to 21, 2024.
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 artfully paneled hall offers an extraordinary sound space for the diversity of chamber music instrumentations and repertoire. In the subscription series, the audience also has the opportunity to meet the artists in a 7 minute conversation.
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 Thomas Quasthoff's Wettbewerb "Das Lied" as well as in other artistic projects, the phenomenon "Lied" can unfold creatively and innovatively in all its manifestations. The interplay of these offerings makes the center a place where exemplary song productions can be conceived, tested and brought to the public. This worldwide unique place of song creativity especially promotes innovative projects and the young song talents of tomorrow.
What began in 2011 as a highly condensed course offering as part of the Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival, has developed into a year-round support programme for young singers and pianists from all over the world. The master classes with the Artistic Director of the Academy Thomas Hampson take place within the framework of the total of four work phases of the Liedakademie in Berlin and Heidelberg, in part publicly in front of an audience and via livestream. In addition, the young artists can be experienced in performances, some with specially curated programs, in the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin and at the Liedfestival Heidelberg.
The Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb "Das Lied" was launched in 2009 by Thomas Quasthoff and within a very short time has established itself as one of the most important singing competitions worldwide. The goal is to promote great song singers of the younger generation. It also offers the opportunity for audiences, organizers, festivals and agencies to discover the voices of tomorrow. In addition to prize money of 40,000 euros, the prize winners will be given concerts in internationally renowned concert halls. Previously based in Berlin, the competition has been organized by the Heidelberger Frühling since 2017.
The 2023 edition was won by 24-year-old tenor Laurence Kilsby from England and 33-year-old tenor Tae Hwan Yun from South Korea.
In June, the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival promotes those who continue to think about the Lied in a creative way and repeatedly enter "new Lied territory." 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 presentation.
The Liedfestival is a showcase for guest performances, but also for numerous own productions of the Liedzentrum like the Lied.LABs. And the Liedakademie's year-round sponsorship programme, under the artistic direction of Thomas Hampson, conducts its final work phase of the season during the Liedfestival - with public master classes in front of an audience and concerts by the current scholarship holders.
The next edition will take place June 8 to 16, 2024. The programme will be published here in spring 2024.
In its conferences, the Heidelberger Frühling provides important impetus for the future of the industry. Since 2013, festivals and concert halls have been discussing current issues and challenges facing the classical music industry at the Heidelberger Frühling Musikkonferenz (formerly Heidelberg Music Conference). In the fall of 2022, the first Heidelberger Liedkonferenz kicked off the exchange and networking of the international song scene.