About Us

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. In 2022, the Musikfestival celebrated its 25th birthday.

Each festival edition is unique. Each year, new programmatic focal points are set, inviting a change of perspective and a reconsideration of supposedly old familiarities.

Since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Igor Levit has been Co-Artistic Director of the Musikfestival alongside Artistic Director Thorsten Schmidt. Together, they are pursuing the goal of further promoting the Musikfestival as a platform for up-and-coming artists and for format development. They define it as a space for discourse and the exchange of ideas. Collaboration with other cultural partners, the inclusion of current communication possibilities in the digital sphere and ecologically sustainable program development are at the heart of the collaboration.

The next edition of the Musikfestival is expected to take place from March 14 to April 18, 2026.

In June, the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival promotes those who think the song forward in a creative way and keep breaking new ground. The Liedfestival pursues the mission of presenting the genre in a wide variety of formats and offering a platform for experimental and unconventional concepts and forms of performance.

Guest performances take place at Liedfestival, but the Liedzentrum also hosts numerous in-house productions such as the Lied.LABs. And the Liedakademie 's year-round support program under the artistic direction of Thomas Hampson will hold its final work phase of the season during the festival - with public master classes in front of an audience and concerts by the current scholarship holders.

The next edition of the Liedfestival will take place from May 24 to June 1, 2025.

In January, lovers of this special musical genre come together for the Heidelberger Frühling Streichquartettfest together. With its focus on the string quartet, it is the first of its kind. Over four days, a high density of concerts, lectures, workshops and readings are offered, inviting visitors to engage intensively with the royal genre of chamber music. The personal exchange between the international quartets, selected artistic guests and the audience during, between and after the concerts is what makes the festival so unique.

The next edition of the Streichquartettfest will take place from January 22 to 25, 2026.

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 auditorium of Alte Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg. The ornately paneled hall provides an extraordinary sound space for the diversity of chamber music instrumentation and repertoire. In the subscription series, the audience also has the opportunity to meet the artists in a 7-minute stage 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 the Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb "Das Lied" by Thomas Quasthoff as well as other artistic projects, the phenomenon of "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 program for young singers and pianists from all over the world. The masterclasses with the Academy's Artistic Director Thomas Hampson will take place as part of the Liedakademie's four work phases in Heidelberg, some of which will be open to the public and streamed live. The young artists can also be seen performing at the Liedfestival in Heidelberg, in some cases with specially curated programmes.

The Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb "Das Lied" was launched in 2009 by Thomas Quasthoff and has quickly established itself as one of the most important singing competitions in the world. 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 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.

The next edition of the competition is expected to take place in 2026.

In its conferences, Heidelberger Frühling provides important impetus for the future of the industry. Since 2013, festivals and concert halls have been discussing current topics and challenges in the classical music industry at Heidelberger Frühling Musikkonferenz (formerly Heidelberg Music Conference). In the fall of 2022, the first Heidelberger Frühling Lied Conference kicked off the exchange and networking of the international song scene.