Schubert’s "Unfinished Symphony" sets the stage for the evening. Though premiered and left with only two completed movements, Schubert considered this symphony in B minor a finished piece. Commenced in the autumn of 1822, this work marked a point in the 25-year-old Viennese composer’s exploration of new musical landscapes.

EPSG:4326

28 May 2025  Cologne

Museum Ludwig

Best of Verdi meets Kendlinger

Abel Selaocoe is bound to amaze in every respect. Not only does the South African enjoy international renown as a cellist and composer, he is also able to impress on stage with his singing skills.

Abel Selaocoe

Dr. Crescendo is desperate: she wants to find a way to travel with music in her laboratory. She has already collected many sounds and instruments, but it just doesn't work. Her two colleagues support her and little by little the secret is revealed: music comes to life in the mind and in the imagination and only then can you travel with it...

Sound Laboratory - The Vibration of Music

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFe6mW6x9pc

The Artelize Podcast: 'Amplifying What Makes Us Human'. A conversation with Zuly E. Inirio

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59E40S_EQSY

The Artelize Podcast: A love letter that was never sent

Cologne Citizens' Orchestra | Mariano Chiacchiarini

Ford Symphony Orchestra

Virtuoser Dialog

Claudio Monteverdi's last opera, "L'incoronazione di Poppea," captivates with expressive, multifaceted music. A first-class group of singers and the renowned Cappella Mediterranea under Leonardo García Alarcón bring this early Baroque masterpiece to life.

Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea

A breath of fresh air in the concert hall: When the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen joins forces with Paavo Järvi and Janine Jansen, a well-known classic such as Beethoven's Violin Concerto becomes an experience again.

The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

Form completed

A song of the earth for our time - that is nothing less than what the writer Händl Klaus and the composer Hèctor Parra have in mind. Olivia and Bruno trudge through a glowing, dead landscape. Sung and spoken words result in an impossible dialogue between two lonely figures. A great work about farewell and loss, love and life. The clarinet concerto by the important composer Kaija Saariaho is inspired by medieval carpets with images of a woman and a unicorn. A work in which the soloist literally "wanders" through the landscape of the Philharmonie.

Music of Time – Man/Woman/Unicorn/Lakes

Where

In order to get to know the sound down to its most mysterious ramifications, Kaija Saariaho simply put it "under the microscope". In 2023, the great Finnish composer died in her adopted home of Paris. Together with violinist Carolin Widmann, the SWR Symphony Orchestra remembers this magician of intermediate and microtones.

Carolin Widmann | SWR Symphony Orchestra | Bas Wiegers

With Kaija Saariaho, the central artist portrait is once again dedicated to an internationally acclaimed composer. The "Lichtbogen" from 1985-86 is indisputably one of her major works. With the finest instrumentation techniques and occasional use of electronics, she achieves astonishing effects that cover the entire spectrum from delicate shimmer to powerful laser beams. The electronic tools for the "Lichtbogen" were created at the Paris IRCAM, whose founding father is rightly considered to be Pierre Boulez. His birthday will be the 100th anniversary in 2025, and so the festival is also paying homage to him with the performance of "sur Incises", which is so rarely heard due to its unusual instrumentation - last in the Philharmonie in 1999.

Balloons are delicate and airy, fun and inviting to play with. But they also have another side; they can pop and make a noise, you can rub them and make them squeak.

Elementary school concert

​A whole day of music with free admission - the popular ACHT BRÜCKEN Freihafen will take place on May 17th in 2025. This means that towards the end of the festival it offers another opportunity to meet the favorite composers and themes of the week and to listen to today's music in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall and the Funkhaus am Wallrafplatz.

EIGHT BRIDGES Freeport

For him, composing is a kind of medicine against the violence of life. Georges Aperghis is "an unmistakable voice and an outstanding composer of our time," according to the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation's tribute. "Selfie in the Dark" is a composition commissioned by the festival, which will be premiered here - and which Aperghis composed in memory of his late wife Edith. In search of the sound of silence, however, Eivind Buene composed "Lessons in Darkness" in the Norwegian winter of 2017, imagining the ensemble as a human community. The program is complemented by a prizewinner of the ACHT BRÜCKEN composition competition.

Selfie in the Dark

Yiran Zhao, born in China and based in Berlin, is a composer, performer, audio designer and sound artist. The use of light and shadow is as much a part of her vocabulary as performative elements and visual media. The Briton Christian Mason uses a text by Paul Griffiths on the (light-related) schooling behavior of fish for his new work "The Oddity Effect". Both works, as well as the premiere of a prize-winning piece from the ACHT BRÜCKEN composition competition, will be conducted by Ustina Dubitsky, who attracted attention through her successful participation in the Besançon conducting competition and winning the La Maestra conducting competition.

The Oddity Effect

When it pearls and shimmers, when it becomes transparent and shines in all colors at the same time, then it quickly becomes clear who is sitting at the piano: the charismatic sound magician Seong-Jin Cho.

Seong-Jin Cho

These are unermüdlich im musicalischen Hochgebirge unterwegs. The Expedition is still on its way. Sie erschließen komplexe Landschaften und fühlen sich darin pudelwohl. Die Mitglieder des Quartuor Ébène zählen zur Spitzenklasse unter den Streichquartetten.

Ebony Quartet

New York City, NY

London

Boston, MA

San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Toronto, ON

Houston, TX

Chicago, IL

Philadelphia, PA

Cambridge, MA

Edinburgh

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Other

Liverpool

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Rochester, NY

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Aarhus

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Bloomington

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Copenhagen

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Leeds

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Glasgow

Cardiff

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Bristol

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Munich

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Urbana, IL

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State College

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Stockholm

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Ithaca, NY

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Frankfurt am Main

Cambridge

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Belfast

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Red Bank, NJ

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Leipzig

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Bedford

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Köln

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Fort Lauderdale, FL

Buxton

Davis, CA

Events in Köln

28 May 2025 Cologne

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Best of Verdi meets Kendl...

Kölner Philharmonie

Abel Selaocoe

Kölner Philharmonie

Sound Laboratory - The Vi...

Kölner Philharmonie

The Artelize Podcast: 'Am...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

Cologne Citizens' Orchest...

Kölner Philharmonie

Ford Symphony Orchestra

Kölner Philharmonie

Virtuoser Dialog

Kölner Philharmonie

Monteverdi: The Coronatio...

Kölner Philharmonie

The Deutsche Kammerphilha...

Kölner Philharmonie

Form completed

Kölner Philharmonie

Music of Time – Man/Woman...

Kölner Philharmonie

Where

Kölner Philharmonie

Carolin Widmann | SWR Sym...

Kölner Philharmonie

arc

Kölner Philharmonie

Elementary school concert...

Kölner Philharmonie

EIGHT BRIDGES Freeport

Kölner Philharmonie

Selfie in the Dark

Kölner Philharmonie

The Oddity Effect

Kölner Philharmonie

Seong-Jin Cho

Kölner Philharmonie

Ebony Quartet

Kölner Philharmonie