News

Say hello to Bach in Arnstadt

Bach Festival Arnstadt becomes part of the Thuringian Bach Festival

The demand for cultural networking in and with the region is leading to a groundbreaking merger for the first time: the Bach Festival Arnstadt will be part of the Thuringia Bach Festival in 2024 - the two initiatives are joining forces to grow together and help the Bach region to become even more recognisable. From 5 to 7 April, an Arnstadt focus will therefore take place within the Bach Festival Weeks, which will help the Bach Festival to achieve good visibility and a strong programme.

Ballet premiere in Eisenach

THE BACH PROJECT by Gabriel Prokofiev on 30 March

It is a very special project: a collaboration between Bachwochen and the Landestheater Eisenach. After 15 years, ballet director Andris Plucis is once again devoting himself to a work by Prokofiev. Inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer Gabriel Prokofiev is writing a world premiere and using this new music to create a lively ballet project of permeable lightness, simple movements and a great love for the moment.

Successful festival kick-off

House music programmes and opening concert inspire

Over 100 house concerts throughout the state created a great atmosphere in Bachland Thuringia on Friday. The magical opening with ensemble reflektor at Erfurt's Zughafen was also met with applause and cheers. The Thuringia Bach Festival 2024 is now open and will continue to attract visitors with numerous concerts throughout the state until mid-April. The next highlights: Vox Luminis | Le Banquet Céleste | Ensemble Resonanz | La Tempête

Venues for the #20for20 project have been finalised

Festival brings music to the rural region

With the #20for20 project, Thuringia's largest classical music festival wants to say thank you for 20 exciting and wonderful years of festival culture and is giving away 20 concerts in the rural regions of Thuringia. The 20 venues have now been finalised. "The idea arose from the experience of hearing time and again that culture hardly takes place in rural areas anymore, that many residents feel socially and culturally left behind and that the journey to the cities is often too arduous for them," says Bachwochen director Christoph Drescher. With guitarist Anne Haasch, accordionist Goran Stevanovich and percussionist Philipp Lamprecht, we have found three artists who are looking forward to travelling to unknown stages and supporting the idea of concerts in the countryside with their musical talents and experience.

The #20for20 project is part of the "tuned - Network for Contemporary Classical Music" programme. Since last year, the German Federal Cultural Foundation has been funding six festivals that are trialling new concert formats and working methods. Social sustainability is also an important topic here: how can a festival develop social relevance and work with local people on an equal footing instead of just landing once a year as a UFO for a few weeks and then disappearing again? This is what #20for20 exemplifies.

The events of the #20for20 project are free of charge in order to reach as many people as possible with the concerts.

Caroline Shaw returns

Caroline Shaw will be coming to Thuringia for a week as composer in residence. The 40-year-old American is a multiple Grammy award winner and one of the most successful representatives of a young generation that pays little heed to genre boundaries and thus attracts new audiences to her concerts. Shaw's music can be heard in four concerts at the festival before her commissioned work is premiered in Erfurt Cathedral on 13 April: a new cantata composed within a week, following the example of Bach, who 300 years ago had to present new cantatas every week in the church service.

Farewell in 2024

The 20th Thuringia Bach Festival, scheduled from March 21 to April 14, 2024, will be the last under the leadership of Christoph Drescher. This anniversary edition marks the end of his longstanding tenure during which Drescher transformed the Bach Festival in the heart of Germany into a renowned music festival for visitors from around the world. The festival board, led by Erfurt Cathedral organist and composer Prof. Silvius von Kessel, expresses regret over his departure: "Our collaboration with Christoph Drescher and his team was characterized by utmost professionalism, trust, and personal friendship. We are truly grateful for that. The Thuringian Bach Festival has not only preserved Bach's work, but under Drescher's program design, it has constantly shed new artistic light and interpretation on it," says Prof. Silvius von Kessel. Discussions are currently underway to appoint Drescher's successor. Photo: © DW/Björn Kietzmann

tuned - Network for Contemporary Classical Music

A new programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation
With the pilot programme tuned, the German Federal Cultural Foundation supports festivals that demonstrate innovative approaches to the presentation of classical music and thus alternatives to the traditional concert business. To this end, a nationwide network is being established between festival organisers who are already testing new concert forms and working methods in terms of art, programming and organisation. The Beethovenfest Bonn, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with the detect classic festival, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Festival Podium Esslingen, the Thuringia Bach Festival as well as the initiative TONALi Hamburg were selected for this.