The music of the future – envisioned in Hamburg

Great composers don’t merely deal with the subject of the future – they seek to actively shape it. From 1 May to 5 June, the upcoming edition of the Hamburg International Music Festival presents visions of musical futures, past and present. The festival welcomes world-class orchestras from Vienna, Munich, Rome, London, Budapest and Chicago, alongside celebrated soloists including Lisa Batiashvili, Janine Jansen, Camilla Nylund, Joshua Bell, Igor Levit, Daniil Trifonov, Mitsuko Uchida, Seong-Jin Cho, and Sir András Schiff. John Luther Adams features with his award-winning orchestral work »Become Ocean«, a profound reflection on global warming. The Australian pianist and composer Zubin Kanga makes a guest appearance as part of a spotlight on the opportunities and risks of Artificial Intelligence. One hundred years after its premiere, Alan Gilbert leads a centennial production at the Elbphilharmonie of Alban Berg’s groundbreaking opera »Wozzeck«, with Matthias Goerne in the title role. The ensemble of composer Philip Glass plays the live soundtrack to the classic film »Koyaanisqatsi«, a critique of civilisation, and Sol Gabetta stars as the soloist in Dmitri Shostakovich’s cello concerto. Iván Fischer conducts Gustav Mahler’s opulent »Resurrection Symphony« with his Budapest Festival Orchestra, and at »Futur X« 85 people from Hamburg present their collective visions of the future in a performance that includes music, the written word and dance. Tickets are available at www.elbphilharmonie.de.

The festival opens with Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra performing »Répons« by Pierre Boulez, in tribute to the composer, who is a central focus of this year’s programme (1/2 May). Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra stage Alban Berg’s opera »Wozzeck«, featuring Matthias Goerne in the title role. The »true crime classic« remains powerfully relevant a century after its premiere, confronting themes such as isolation, militarisation, and violence against women in a gripping and sonorous production (23/25 May). Following international acclaim for their recordings of Mozart’s three final symphonies, Ensemble Resonanz and Riccardo Minasi return with the »Haffner« Symphony, paired with a world premiere by Manfred Trojahn and music by Marianna von Martines. Violist Nils Mönkemeyer and pianist William Youn also explore fragments from Mozart’s oeuvre (6 May). Camilla Nylund, celebrated globally for her roles in the great operas of Wagner and Strauss, takes a more introspective turn with a rare recital of songs at the music festival. Accompanied by the legendary Helmut Deutsch, she brings intimacy and nuance to the stage in a highly anticipated performance (7 May).

The long-established and prestigious Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of New York chief conductor Jaap van Zweden, brings Gustav Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh Symphonies to the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall (17/18 May). Tugan Sokhiev takes the podium with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden to explore the sound worlds of Anton Bruckner and Dmitri Shostakovich, with the incomparable Sol Gabetta as soloist in Shostakovich’s cello concerto (21 May). Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Iván Fischer’s internationally acclaimed Budapest Festival Orchestra returns with Mahler’s visionary Symphony No. 2, the »Resurrection Symphony«, joined by soloists Christiane Karg and Anna Lucia Richter (27 May). The Vienna Philharmonic, together with pianist Igor Levit and conductor Thomas Adès, presents an extraordinary programme bringing together Haydn with Adès’ own spectacular piano concerto and Janáček’s »Taras Bulba«. There is also a tribute to Pierre Boulez on what would have been his 100th birthday (24 May). The London Symphony Orchestra makes a guest appearance with its newly appointed chief conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and a programme featuring two French composers who fearlessly pushed boundaries in their respective lifetimes: Hector Berlioz and Pierre Boulez (4 June). The following evening, violinist Lisa Batiashvili graces the Elbphilharmonie with Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, widely considered one of the composer’s most beautiful works for her instrument (5 June).

At the dawn of the 20th century, machines, speed and technological progress inspired visions of a glorious future. This widespread enthusiasm for technology soon spilled over into the arts, with the Futurists pushing boundaries both with new subject matter and forms of expression. The pianist Lukas Geniušas presents some key figures from this brief yet exciting movement (28 May). For Tamara Stefanovich, no work is too difficult and no programme too daring. In this performance, she combines Dmitri Shostakovich’s tempestuous First Piano Sonata with Pierre Boulez’s supposedly unplayable Second Sonata. In the second part of the evening, she plays new co-compositions by Stefanovich-Dell-Lillinger-Westergaard together with her ensemble SDLW (8 May). The celebrated pianist Bertrand Chamayou teams up with the dancer and choreographer Elodie Sicard in Cage², bringing to life the legendary prepared piano works of the visionary maverick John Cage (9 May).

In three concerts and accompanying discussions, the music festival delves into the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence in music: What does the future of the piano sound like? The Australian pianist and composer Zubin Kanga sets out to explore this question. Kitting out the traditional grand piano with an array of tech devices, or weaving mesmerizing textures from multiple synthesizers, he becomes a kind of musical cyborg, performing at the piano with sensor gloves and a brainwave-monitoring helmet that resembles a disco ball (17 May). In Brigitta Muntendorf’s »Orbit – A War Series«, the audience sits scattered around the room and the sound seems to come from everywhere. Premiered at the 2023 Venice Biennale, the work conjures a post-human, techno-futurist choir of immortal female warriors (17 May). The six musicians that make up the Decoder Ensemble are known for always being at the cutting edge. They present »Future Recognition« – a programme featuring mostly world premieres by a new generation of young international composers for whom AI is already an integral creative tool (18 May).

It was with the melting of the polar ice caps in mind that the Alaskan composer and environmental activist John Luther Adams wrote the opulent orchestral work »Become Ocean«, which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy. Performed by the Basel Sinfonietta with pianist Andreas Haefliger, the programme opens with Dieter Ammann’s driving piano concerto – an energetic work that draws on his roots in funk and jazz (10 May). Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi paints a portrait of a world out of balance, capturing people in rapid motion flitting through the street canyons of a modern, mechanised society. The hypnotic soundtrack by Philip Glass, performed live by an ensemble founded especially for his music, transforms the film into an audiovisual synthesis of the arts in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall (12 May).

The grand seigneur of the piano, Sir András Schiff, is making a guest appearance in a dual role as both pianist and conductor. With the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, he presents works by Schumann and Mendelssohn on original instruments (20 May). The Brazilian youth orchestra Neojiba is made up of extremely talented musicians aged between 13 and 27. It is part of a support programme that – following the example of Venezuela’s »El Sistema« – not only offers musical education, but also fosters social integration. Together with the outstanding 19-year-old soloist Guido Sant’Anna, it is now set to perform for the first time in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall (22 May). Sir Simon Rattle is bringing along a French programme to Hamburg with his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra: Maurice Ravel’s complete ballet music for »Daphnis et Chloé« and »Rituel«, one of Pierre Boulez’s most impactful works (1 June). The Kammerakademie Potsdam under the direction of Antonello Manacorda performs Mendelssohn and Viotti with Christian Tetzlaff (26 May).

Together with the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the orchestra in residence throws the spotlight onto three French works that rarely find their way into concert halls and bring the festival motto »Future« to life in a unique way: Claude Debussy’s Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra, César Franck’s Variations symphoniques and Henri Dutilleux’s Symphony No. 2 (8/9/11 May). With Pablo Heras-Casado conducting, the programme also includes excerpts from Richard Wagner’s »Götterdämmerung«. Antoine Tamestit, this season’s NDR Artist in Residence, can be heard as the soloist in the Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by the recently deceased Sofia Gubaidulina. The work unfolds a dark and mysterious world of sound with Wagner tubas, cymbals and an additional string quartet (30/31 May).

One of the current shooting stars of the early music scene is the French baroque violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, who – following on from his appearance in June 2024 in the Elbphilharmonie’s FAST LANE series – can be heard with his own ensemble Le Consort and Antonio Vivaldi’s »The Four Seasons« (11 May). Christoph Willibald Gluck set the antique story of »Iphigénie en Tauride« to music with finely drawn character studies that portray the inner conflicts of the characters in gripping ways and set them to beautiful arias. An ideal template for Thomas Hengelbrock and his ensembles (3 May). The FestspielOrchester Göttingen and the NDR Vocal Ensemble perform Handel’s oratorio »Solomon« together, under the direction of the baroque specialist George Petrou (15 May). And together with the lautten compagney BERLIN, Rolando Villazón embarks on a musical voyage into the world of Claudio Monteverdi (28 May).

The grand dame of the piano, Mitsuko Uchida, returns to the Elbphilharmonie with a moving solo concert. The programme includes Beethoven and Schubert, two composers who helped the Grammy award-winning musician to international acclaim (29 May). Seong-Jin Cho has made a name for himself as the winner of the legendary Chopin Competition, and this season he is Artist in Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall, this exceptional South Korean artist explores the vibrant sound cosmos of Maurice Ravel (13 May). The star pianist Daniil Trifonov is also presenting a romantic programme at the Laeiszhalle, sure to showcase all facets of his superb skills. In addition to piano sonatas by Samuel Barber and his fellow countryman Piotr I. Tchaikovsky, he is also set to perform dances by Frédéric Chopin (26 May).

The Art Ensemble of Chicago enjoys legendary status. Founded in 1967 in the city that gave it its name, the band moved to Paris shortly afterwards. It was from there that they launched their global career with »Great Black Music« – a unique avant-garde jazz that incorporates African, Asian and Latin American traditions (14 May). Tin Men and the Telephone have their concerts controlled by an app and synchronise politicians’ speeches, tennis matches and animal sounds with music: the group brings together technology, humour and fabulous jazz (24 May).

Karlheinz Stockhausen established his global fame as a musician of the future and political utopian with his visionary electronic compositions. Wolfgang Rihm developed his own sound language with classical instruments, making him one of the most important voices in contemporary music. Two separate concerts, in the Recital Hall and in the resonanzraum St. Pauli, are dedicated to their teacher-student relationship (3/4 June). The deaf actor Ruben Grandits takes centre stage in the experimental opera »The Rise« by Eva Reiter. His gestures are transformed into intoxicating sounds through sensors placed on his hands. Specially developed instruments transform movement into sound. Music, dance and language come together in sound and vision, staged by the choreographer Michiel Vandevelde. »The Rise« is a work that can be enjoyed by hearing and non-hearing people alike (21/22 May, Kampnagel).

Making music, dancing, singing, acting and choreographing together: that’s what the community project »Futur X – when is tomorrow?« is all about. Curious young people aged 16 and over are invited to take part and explore their creativity in various rehearsals and workshops from November 2024 onwards. In sessions specialised in music and songwriting, movement and dance, sound design with modular synthesizers and writing texts, they will create a work together that deals with the overarching theme of the future. The result – a musical performance featuring texts, choreography and compositions by the community ensemble – to be presented in two final concerts in the Grand Hall on 4 May.

The Hamburg International Music Festival is a joint festival featuring HamburgMusik, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz, Konzertdirektion Dr. Rudolf Goette, NDR Vocal Ensemble, NDR das neue werk, the Balthasar-Neumann-Choir and Ensemble and Kampnagel.

Supported by the K.S. Fischer-Stiftung, the Stiftung Elbphilharmonie and the Förderkreis Internationales Musikfest Hamburg.

Do, 1. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr / Fr, 2. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg / Kent Nagano

Boulez: Répons / Beethoven: Sinfonie Nr. 6 »Pastorale«
 

Sa, 3. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride / Thomas Hengelbrock

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester / Solist:innen
 

So, 4. Mai 2025, 17.00 Uhr/20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Futur X - wann ist morgen?
Abschlussperformance des Community-Projekts
 

Di, 6. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Ensemble Resonanz / Nils Mönkemeyer / William Youn / Riccardo Minasi
»mmmmmozart« – Werke von Mozart, Trojahn und von Martines

 

Mi, 7. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Camilla Nylund / Helmut Deutsch
Liederabend / Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder sowie Lieder von Korngold, Mahler u.a.

 

Mi, 7. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma / Bell / Harding
Dvořák: Violinkonzert / Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 1
 

Do, 8. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Tamara Stefanovich / SDLW
Schostakowitsch: Klaviersonate Nr. 1 / Boulez: Klaviersonate Nr. 2 / Stefanovich-Dell-Lillinger-Westergaard: Neue Werke – NDR das neue werk
 

Do, 8. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr / Fr, 9. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr / So, 11. Mai 2025, 11.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / Leif Ove Andsnes / Alan Gilbert
Debussy: Fantaisie für Klavier und Orchester / Franck: Variations symphoniques / Dutilleux: Sinfonie Nr. 2

 

Fr, 9. Mai 2025, 20.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

John Cage: Music and Dance
Bertrand Chamayou, Klavier

 

Sa, 10. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

John Luther Adams: Become Ocean
Basel Sinfonietta / Andreas Haefliger / Titus Engel

 

So, 11. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen / Janine Jansen / Paavo Järvi
Beethoven: Violinkonzert D-Dur / Schubert: Sinfonie Nr. 4

 

So, 11. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Laeiszhalle Großer Saal

Vivaldi: Die Vier Jahreszeiten
Le Consort / Théotime Langlois de Swarte
 

Mo, 12. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Ensemble NIGHT
»Eine musikalische Reise durch den Himalaya« – Klassik der Welt

 

Mo, 12. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi
Philip Glass Ensemble
 

Di, 13. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Seong-Jin Cho / Klavierabend
Alle Werke für Klavier solo von Maurice Ravel
 

Mi, 14. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Art Ensemble of Chicago
»Great Black Music – Ancient to the Future«
 

Do, 15. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Händel: Solomon
NDR Vokalensemble / FestspielOrchester Göttingen / George Petrou

 

Fr, 16. Mai 2025, 20.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Zubin Kanga
»Cyborg Pianist« – ePhil
 

Sa, 17. Mai 2025, 14.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kaistudio 1

Der Cyborg-Pianist

Talk mit Zubin Kanga – Elbphilharmonie PLUS
 

Sa, 17. Mai 2025, 17.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kaistudio 1

KI in der Musik
Podiumsgespräch mit Brigitta Muntendorf, Eva Reiter und Alexander Schubert –Elbphilharmonie PLUS
 

Sa, 17. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Brigitta Muntendorf: Orbit
Weltraum-Oratorium für KI-Sprachklone und 3D-Sound
 

Sa, 17. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Jaap van Zweden
Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 6
 

So, 18. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Decoder Ensemble
»Future Recognition«
 

So, 18. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Jaap van Zweden
Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 7

 

Mo, 19. Mai 2025, 19.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Mozart: Requiem
Dresdner Philharmonie / Dresdner Kreuzchor / Solist:innen / Martin Lehmann
 

Di, 20. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Sir András Schiff
Schumann: Introduktion und Allegro appassionato & Klavierkonzert a-Moll / Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Ein Sommernachtstraum
 

Mi, 21. Mai 2025, 19.00 Uhr / Do, 22. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Kampnagel | K2

The Rise / Ictus Ensemble
Experimentelle Oper von Eva Reiter und Michiel Vandevelde

 

Mi, 21. Mai 2025, 20.30 Uhr, Kampnagel | K2

The Rise / Ictus Ensemble Künstlergespräch

 

Mi, 21. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden / Sol Gabetta / Tugan Sokhiev
Schostakowitsch: Cellokonzert Nr. 1 / Bruckner: Sinfonie Nr. 7
 

Do, 22. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Neojiba Orquestra Juvenil da Bahia / Guido Sant’Anna / Ricardo Castro
Gomes: Prelude aus »Lo schiavo« / Sibelius: Violinkonzert d-Moll / Bernstein: Symphonic Dances / Villa-Lobos: Chôros Nr. 6
 

Fr, 23. Mai 2025, 17.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Quartett der Kritiker
Diskussion über Alban Bergs Oper »Wozzeck« mit Manuel Brug, Joachim Mischke, Regine Müller, Christian Wildhagen – Elbphilharmonie PLUS

 

Fr, 23. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr / So, 25. Mai 2025, 18.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Alban Berg: Wozzeck
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / NDR Vokalensemble / Alan Gilbert

 

Sa, 24. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Wiener Philharmoniker / Igor Levit / Thomas Adès
Haydn / Adès / Kurtág / Boulez / Janáček
 

Sa, 24. Mai 2025, 20.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Tin Men and the Telephone
»It’s About Time«
 

Mo, 26. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Laeiszhalle Großer Saal

Daniil Trifonov / Klavierabend
Sonaten und Walzer von Tschaikowsky, Barber und Chopin / Tschaikowsky: Dornröschen-Suite

 

Mo, 26. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Christian Tetzlaff / Kammerakademie Potsdam / Antonello Manacorda
Viotti: Violinkonzert Nr. 22 / Beethoven: Sinfonie Nr. 5
 

Di, 27. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor / Iván Fischer
Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 2 – mit Christiane Karg und Anna Lucia Richter
 

Mi, 28. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Lukas Geniušas / Klavierabend
Werke von Skrjabin, Schostakowitsch, Strawinsky, Prokofjew u.a.
 

Mi, 28. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Rolando Villazón / lautten compagney BERLIN
»Seelenreise«

 

Do, 29. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Mitsuko Uchida / Klavierabend
Beethoven: Klaviersonate e-Moll / Schubert: Klaviersonate B-Dur
 

Fr, 30. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr / Sa, 31. Mai 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / Antoine Tamestit / Pablo Heras-Casado
Gubaidulina: Violakonzert / Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Auszüge)
 

Sa, 31. Mai 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Boulez Le marteau sans Maître
Zyklus für Altstimme und Instrumentalist:innen – mit Ema Nikolovska, Sean Shibe u.a.
 

So, 1. Juni 2025, 11.00 Uhr / Mo, 2. Jun 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg / Maria Bengtsson / Bertrand de Billy
Strauss: Szenen aus »Capriccio«, Vier letzte Lieder & Ein Heldenleben
 

So, 1. Juni 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Sir Simon Rattle
Boulez: Rituel / Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé

 

Di, 3. Juni 2025, 19.30 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal

Stationen: Stockhausen & Rihm
NDR das neue werk
 

Di, 3. Juni 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

Iveta Apkalna, Orgel
Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre / Bach: Chaconne sowie Werke von Petr Eben und César Franck

 

Mi, 4. Juni 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano
Berlioz: Ouverture du Corsaire & Symphonie fantastique / Boulez: Livre pour cordes & Mémoriale

 

Mi, 4. Juni 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Bunker Feldstraße | resonanzraum St. Pauli

Stationen: Rihm & Stockhausen
NDR das neue werk
 

Do, 5. Juni 2025, 20.00 Uhr, Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal

London Symphony Orchestra / Lisa Batiashvili / Sir Antonio Pappano
Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche & Ein Heldenleben / Mozart: Violinkonzert A-Dur