Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Bayer Kultur reviews stARTfestival 2026

Leverkusen, June 25, 2026. Bayer Kultur has closed the 2026 edition of stARTfestival after eleven weeks of programming. Around 30 events brought together concerts, dance productions, performances, artistic encounters and formats designed to support emerging talent.

The festival theme, „So klingt Fühlen“, framed a programme that moved between chamber music, contemporary classical music, dance and cross-genre formats. Questions of identity, cultural context and social change were among the recurring topics.

International artists and contemporary formats

Key moments included appearances by cellist Gautier Capuçon with the Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin, Alisa Weilerstein with contemporary reflections on Johann Sebastian Bach, and a performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra at Kloster Knechtsteden.

The programme also included stage formats beyond the traditional concert setting. Theater Rotterdam presented a production with performer Nastaran Razawi Khorasani addressing the body, freedom and the ban on dance in Iran. The work was shown in Germany for the first time. The German National Theatre Weimar also joined the festival as a venue for the first time, hosting Frau Thomas and Herr Martin, Thomas Neuwirth, also known as Conchita Wurst, and Martin Zerza, in a variety evening spanning chanson, cabaret and Viennese song.

Dance was represented, among others, by tanzmainz. Paloma Muñoz presented „Im Mohnfeld“, a choreography centred on community, memory and solidarity.

Talent development remains central

The stARTacademy continued to shape the festival’s profile in 2026. The programme supports selected artists over several years and connects them with established musicians as well as performance opportunities.

US tubist Joshua Williams, a stARTacademy fellow, performed with the Jazzrausch Big Band in a sold-out concert at the Erholungshaus. Brazilian violinist Guido Sant’Anna was also among this year’s academy artists. The festival closed with New York string quartet Brooklyn Rider and the European premiere of „Frida’s Dreams“ by Pulitzer Prize winner Gabriela Lena Frank. The commissioned work was made possible by Bayer Kultur together with international partners including Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall.

Plans for 2027

For 2027, Bayer Kultur announced a new partnership between stARTacademy and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Selected fellows are expected to rehearse with musicians from the chamber orchestra and present the results during the next stARTfestival. ASMF will also support the international search and selection of new talent.

Austrian mezzo-soprano Anja Mittermüller will be the first new member under the concept from 2027. She is set to work with ASMF musicians and stARTacademy fellows Giorgi Gigashvili and Guido Sant’Anna. Composer Josh Alexander has also joined the academy.

Another part of the partnership is a community concert in Wuppertal in May 2027. Amateur musicians from the region will be able to apply from autumn 2026. Together with members of the Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra and ASMF, they are planned to perform as the „Bayer Bootcamp Orchestra“ at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal.