Music enthusiasts of all ages come together in the Freundeskreis Heidelberger Frühling. With their commitment, they promote outstanding concerts and provide young artists with musical freedom. As personal ambassadors, the members play an essential role in shaping the family atmosphere of the Heidelberger Frühling concerts.

Over the past few years, civic engagement has given rise to a diverse and enthusiastic network of now almost 1,200 members that is firmly anchored in the city of Heidelberg and the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. It is the members of the Freundeskreis who, through their personal and cultural involvement, give the Heidelberger Frühling – in addition to its artistic profile – an unmistakable face. In addition to their financial commitment, their strong ties are expressed above all through their non-material support of a vibrant musical culture.

Origins

The nucleus of the Circle of Friends was a group of music-loving festival-goers who had formed since the music festival was founded in 1997. During a dinner in 2001 at the home of Prof. Dr. Dr. Konrad and Ursula Beyreuther, the idea was born to organize it formally. A few days later, on October 16, 2001, the founding meeting of the Freundeskreis took place with about 20 members in Villa Bosch, made available by SAP founder and patron Dr. h. c. Klaus Tschira. The goal was to be able to support the music festival through broad civic engagement.

From the very beginning, not only private individuals but also well-known companies in the region, such as HeidelbergCement, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, MLP and BASF, joined the Freundeskreis. The Freundeskreis was soon making a significant contribution to the financing of the music festival.

With the rapidly growing importance of the Musikfestival and the resulting cultural enterprise Heidelberger Frühling, which now includes several festivals, concerts, competitions, academies and other artistic activities, the number of members has risen sharply. Today, almost 1,200 members belong to the "Frühling" family.

Dates & Activities

In addition to concert visits and intensive encounters during the festival weeks, the members come together on a variety of occasions: In addition to concert introductions, discussions with artists and joint rehearsal visits, the friends can attend musicological lectures and music trips and take part in exclusive events such as the big summer festival or the Advent Singing. Every year in January, the Freundeskreis attends the Schubert Week curated by Thomas Hampson at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, supporting the young scholarship holders of the Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie who perform there.

To the current events

Host Family Program

Year after year, the Heidelberger Frühling brings up-and-coming artists to Heidelberg. Young artists from all over the world have the opportunity to participate in academies and competitions, to realize their ideas in their own artistic projects or to grow musically in the context of festival and concert performances. The host family program supports the young talents by offering them a temporary home. In the lived community, an exchange about the common passion for music becomes possible across different cultures and generations.