Reflektor André Heller

»Foreign is the foreigner only in a foreign land« is the theme, which is taken from a half-Dadaistic, half-philosophical text by Karl Valentin. Heller’s vision is to amaze people, on and off the stage. To achieve that, he has invited an incredible variety of artists across all genres. On almost every evening, the audience has an opportunity to enjoy performances by multiple, very different musicians in one concert – and possibly discover unexpected connections.

The acclaimed Finnish opera singer Camilla Nylund, with songs from the Great American Songbook, meets Angélique Kidjo, who follows up on the great success of her own Reflektor festival in March 2023. A Finnish choir of screaming men performs with a traditional Bulgarian women’s vocal ensemble. Powerful gnawa music from Morocco is combined with spiritual Sufi singing from Pakistan, and three different cantor traditions offer insights into the diversity of Jewish sacred music. There are also projects about the great Maria Callas, songwriting legend Jimmy Webb’s first concert on German soil, and of course plenty of Viennese song from Heller’s home city.