Name: Guest at the Rheingau Music Festival
Start: 2026-07-11T19:00:00
Location: Kurhaus Wiesbaden GmbH

Jakub Hrůša

Bamberger Symphoniker

RUBY RED AND THE WONDERS OF THE FOREST Ruby and her friends are celebrating a joyful festival in the forest. The lively atmosphere is contagious, even spreading to the birds, and everyone joins in a colorful concert. But what are those angry sounds suddenly coming from the thicket? Is a forest dweller perhaps disturbed by Ruby's party? Join Ruby Red and her friends on a vibrant musical adventure that attracts not only forest animals but also magical woodland creatures! A wonderful story about colors, emotions, friendship, and courage. Our cushion concerts, developed by our education team, take place in the concert hall, right on the stage.

Cushion Concert: Ruby Rot and the Wonders of the Forest

Bamberg Concert Hall

A museum visit? Boring?! Not this one! In our narrated family concert, conducted by Benjamin Haemhouts, you can take a musical stroll through Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and experience how the individual paintings evoke moods and the moods become musical sounds. The musicians of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, playing brass and percussion, along with soloist Christian Schmitt on the organ, considered the "queen of instruments," will create a truly special sound experience. Join us and experience "Pictures at an Exhibition" in a unique version that will take young and old alike on an exciting journey through the museum's corridors.

Family Concert: Pictures at an Exhibition

This evening, our concertmaster Ilian Garnetz will have the opportunity to showcase his talent on stage. His talent was nurtured from an early age: raised in an artistic family, he made his solo debut at the age of ten and later studied with, among others, Igor Oistrakh. Today, he is a prizewinner of major competitions and a sought-after chamber musician. For this chamber concert, he has compiled a richly evocative and captivating program, which he will present with great pleasure together with Stanislav Jar at the piano – a musical reflection of a vibrant era full of contrasts. The concert opens with a dazzling work by George Enescu, often called the "Romanian Mozart," who, as a violinist and composer, masterfully wove folkloric elements into his music. 

Chamber concert: Violin Piano

As you know, the tour starts in Bamberg: Before we embark on our Italian tour with our honorary conductor Manfred Honeck, we'll be performing some magnificent compositions at home – including two concertante character pieces, for which we'll be accompanied by Julia Fischer, of whom it was once said: "Everything she plays, she executes with such effortless grace," and one almost forgets "that this music is produced by a person and an instrument – ​​here, the music simply seems to flow from a soul and sweep the listener away." The two works for violin and orchestra included in the program are not only very close to our hearts, but also to hers, as this charming virtuoso violinist has a very personal connection to them: Her mother comes from Slovakia, and these sounds of Eastern European Romanticism were an essential part of her childhood. Josef Suk's Fantasy, composed in 1902, and Dvořák's Romance, first performed in 1877, are technically highly demanding and folklorically inspired compositions.

Special concert: Manfred Honeck and Julia Fischer

We are looking forward to a short tour of Italy under the direction of our honorary conductor, Manfred Honeck, and have brought along some wonderful compositions for the Italian audience – including two concertante character pieces. Julia Fischer will be joining us on our tour to perform them. It was once said of her: "Everything she plays, she performs with such effortless grace," and one almost forgets "that this music is produced by a person and an instrument – ​​here, the music simply seems to flow from a soul and sweep the listener away." The two works for violin and orchestra included in the program are very close to her heart, as well as to ours, because this charming and accomplished violinist has a very personal connection to them: Her mother comes from Slovakia, and these sounds of Eastern European Romanticism were an integral part of her childhood.

On Tour: Italy

In this program, our orchestral toy shop is a whirlwind of activity: Under the direction of Kazuki Yamada, we joyfully immerse ourselves in the colorful and magical realm of childhood fantasy – with a work by Debussy, inspired in 1913 by the illustrator André Hellé. He once remarked: "Toy boxes are actually cities where toys live like real people." And he added ironically: "Or perhaps cities are nothing but toy boxes where people live like toys." For the delightful composition "La boîte à joujoux," we pull a pretty doll, a tin soldier, and a quarrelsome jumping jack from the musical box and bring this wonderful bedtime story to life on stage. The poetic world of children was also a fertile source of inspiration for Bizet: in 1871, with his piano cycle "Jeux d'enfants," he created a charming collection of short, concise genre pieces – and thanks to his skillful orchestration, we will set a whirring top in motion on the stage in the small suite. 

Kazuki Yamada, Leif Ove Andsnes

After more than 13 years of extensive restoration, the former abbey church of St. Michael, located in the over 1000-year-old monastery complex, is reopening its doors. It is particularly famous for its "Heavenly Garden," a ceiling painting with over 580 detailed depictions of plants. We have the honor and, of course, the pleasure of performing on this festive occasion under the direction of our principal conductor – and we are presenting a highly Romantic work by the composer who always took great delight in churches. Bruckner dedicated the score of his Fourth Symphony to the feast day of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music.

Benefit concert for the reopening of St. Michael's Church

St Michael's Church, Bamberg

Our final chamber music open mic night of the season: We are delighted to present a program with an unusual instrumentation and an enchanting world of sound and rhythm. Four string players and the two percussionists from our ranks will perform a concert of fascinating works. This includes a brand-new piece by Gabriele Campagna – a violinist colleague from our orchestra who composes "on the side" and whose string quartet we premiered last season. We are eager to hear which facets of the diverse percussion arsenal he will explore today. A veritable acoustic choreography is the work by the American-born composer Andy Pape, who now lives in Denmark – the title playfully combines the words "cadence" and "dance.

Chamber concert: String quartet and percussion

We look forward to immersing ourselves in diverse musical worlds under the direction of Susanna Mälkki – including that of Mozart, for whom play was an important part of his life: He particularly loved billiards and skittles, as well as chess and trick-tock – or he would sit at the card table and gamble with Tarock, Brandeln, Piquet, or Pharaoh. This enthusiasm is also audible in his often playful music. Together with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, we will perform one of his most popular works: Piano Concerto No. 23 from 1786, which was composed around the same time as his comic opera "Le nozze di Figaro" – a fact that is particularly evident in the surprising scene changes of the finale. Also on the program in Würzburg: A composition by Liszt, who wrote significant symphonic poems. 

Susanna Mälkki, Bertrand Chamayou

We look forward to immersing ourselves in diverse musical worlds under the direction of Susanna Mälkki – including that of Mozart, for whom play was an important part of his life: He particularly loved billiards and skittles, as well as chess and trick-tock – or he would sit at the card table and gamble with Tarock, Brandeln, Piquet, or Pharaoh. This enthusiasm is also audible in his often playful music. Together with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, we will perform one of his most popular works: Piano Concerto No. 23 from 1786, which was composed around the same time as his comic opera "Le nozze di Figaro" – a fact that is particularly evident in the surprising scene changes of the finale. Also on the program in Würzburg: A composition by Liszt, who wrote significant symphonic poems. He drew inspiration for his last contribution to this genre, entitled "From the Cradle to the Grave," from a drawing by a Hungarian painter. 

Guest at the Mozart Festival Würzburg

St. Kilian's Cathedral

During our guest performances in Würzburg, we will present several highly musical works under the direction of Dinis Sousa and accompanied by violinist Tianwa Yang. Stravinsky's piece was composed in 1946 for the 20th anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra. On the surface, it resembles the Baroque concerto grosso, but is ingeniously interwoven with sonic elements of the 20th century. When asked about its content, the composer replied in his typically laconic manner: "That the work is for string orchestra – you will see immediately; that it has three movements – you will read that in the program; that it is anything but atonal! – Won't you let the audience have the pleasure of discovering it for themselves?

Würzburg Residence

At our guest performance at the VR Bank Bamberg-Forchheim OPEN AIR at Jägersburg Castle, we will present several highly musical works under the direction of Dinis Sousa and accompanied by violinist Tianwa Yang. The program begins with the sparkling overture to Le nozze di Figaro : an epitome of Mozart's temperament, whose rapid precision and dazzling wit immediately transport the listener into the vibrant world of his opera. 