
In addition to the concerts and the intensive encounters during the festival weeks, the members come together for a variety of occasions and events: For concert introductions, artist talks and joint rehearsal visits. The friends can attend musicological lectures and music trips and participate in exclusive events such as the big summer party or the Advent singing.
Trip to Amsterdam
June 18 to 21, 2025
In 2025, the Freundeskreis is having its trip to Amsterdam to discover the musical and cultural side of the vibrant metropolis. The tour begins with an exclusive guided tour of the breathtaking architecture of the Concertgebouw by Managing Director Dominik Winterling, a former employee at Heidelberger Frühling. In the evening, members will be immersed in the special atmosphere of the traditional building and its unique acoustics when they experience the performance of Beethoven's 4th Symphony and Strauss' "Don Quixote" by the renowned Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Chang Han-na. Another musical highlight awaits the participants the following evening with a performance of Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov", conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
The varied programme is rounded off with cultural explorations such as a canal cruise, a visit to the Van Gogh Museum and the Maritime Museum, a tour of the historic "van Loon" canal house and a visit to the unique Street Art Museum.
Itinerary
The detailed itinerary incl. Travel registration can be found here.
Registration
You can register for the trip online with the travel agency IBK - Institut für Bildung und Kulturreisen. Alternatively, you can complete the travel registration form attached to the itinerary and send it by email to mail@ibk-reisen.de or mail it to IBK (Institut für Bildung und Kulturreisen GmbH, Dillstraße 16, 20146 Hamburg). The registration deadline is March 15, 2025.
Advent Music
December 6, 2024, 18:00, Jesuit Church
On St. Nicholas' Day, Freundeskreis invited all citizens of Heidelberg to its traditional Advent music in the Jesuit Church. The musical programme was performed by the renowned brass ensemble of the Mannheim University of Music, the Mannheimer Blech, under the direction of Andre Schoch and organist Markus Uhl. The packed church was filled with festive sounds as everyone in attendance joined in with selected Christmas carols. Afterwards, the Freundeskreis came together over mulled wine and gingerbread, where the evening came to an atmospheric close with the singing of more Christmas carols together, accompanied by Markus Uhl on the piano.
Heidelberger Frühling Summer Party
June 2024
The Freundeskreis celebrated its summer party in the open air on Marlene-Dietrich-Platz in front of the new Karlstorbahnhof in Südstadt. In addition to culinary delights, a varied programme awaited the members on the song stage. Amateurs and professionals, choirs and bands from Heidelberg and the region came together in a colorful rendezvous. Among others, honorary member baritone Thomas Hampson performed together with the scholarship holders of the Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie. In bright sunshine, the members not only celebrated a successful 2023/24 season with many moving concert experiences, but also toasted the start of the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival.
Friends' Evening at the Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival
April 2024
Following the general meeting on April 7, the Freundeskreis came together for a champagne reception and then visited Brahms.LAB V, an experimental concert performance based around Brahms' "Four Songs for Women's Choir", which was created by jazz pianist Florian Weber together with the 4x4 Women's Choir of the Heidelberg University of Education under Heike Kiefner-Jesatko, theFestivalcampus-Ensemble and other artists.
Advent Music
December 2023
Excursion to Marbach to the Museum of Modern Literature
December 2023
Summer party
In July 2023, friends and supporters of Heidelberger Frühling came together for the summer party at the Kulturbrauerei in summery temperatures and a great atmosphere. This celebration offered the opportunity to round off the festival season with like-minded people, nice conversations and a glass of wine.
Freundeskreis trip
In June 2023, part of the Freundeskreis traveled to Vienna and Eisenstadt to follow the work of some Liedakademie alumni at the masterclass there with bass-baritone Florian Boesch and pianist and Lied accompanist Justus Zeyen at Esterhazy Palace and to enjoy two concerts together in this wonderful setting. To the travel report by Freundeskreis member Wolfgang G. Nestler