The festival programme - 205 concerts on sale now!
The 41. Festival Summer brings together a large number of internationally acclaimed soloists, including Anastasia Kobekina, Jan Lisiecki, Avi Avital, Yo-Yo Ma, Benjamin Appl, Martin Fröst, Håkan Hardenberger, Nina Stemme, Xavier de Maistre, Claire Huangci, Asya Fateyeva, Anne Sofie von Otter, Daniel Hope, Tabea Zimmermann, Ray Chen, Hilary Hahn, Daniil Trifonov, Hayato Sumino, Rolando Villazón, Midori, Vivi Vassileva, Grigory Sokolov and Jess Gillam.
In addition, a number of orchestras will be performing, including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Estonian Festival Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Badische Staatskapelle, the Zürcher Kammerorchester, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Aurora Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik, the ensemble reflektor orchestra, O/Modernt and the NDR Vokalensemble.
The festival's major orchestral concerts are conducted by renowned conductors such as Stanislav Kochanovsky, Paavo Järvi, Daniel Barenboim, Katharina Wincor, Andrew Manze, Zubin Mehta, Omer Meir Wellber, Daniel Harding and Karina Canellakis.
The programme also features ensembles such as the SIGNUM saxophone quartet, the Goldmund Quartet, the Schumann Quartet, the vision string quartet, the Boulanger Trio, the Marmen Quartet, the Michaelis Consort, the Woodpeckers Recorder Quartet, the lautten compagney BERLIN and Stockholm Chamber Brass.
The SHMF 2026 builds a bridge to pop, jazz, folk, literature and theatre with guests such as Nils Landgren, Michael Wollny, Joris, Sona Jobarteh, Martina Gedeck, Dreamers' Circus, Barokksolistene, WÖR, The Real Group, Time for Three, Bidla Buh, the Jazzrausch Bigband, Familie Flöz and Släpstick. As a prominent festival highlight, the legendary Swedish band Roxette will enrich the programme.
Facts and figures
A total of 205 concerts, five "Musikfeste auf dem Lande", two Children's Music Festivals and five Shipyard Summer Concerts take place in 120 venues at 73 locations in Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, Hamburg and the north of Lower Saxony. The budget approved by the Board of Trustees amounts to around 14 million euros. The SHMF would like to thank Schleswig-Holstein for funding totalling 1.176 million euros. Agreements on main sponsorships, project, concert and product partnerships as well as donations and grants secure the funding. We are delighted to welcome the retail company famila as a new main sponsor.
Shipyard Summer
From 24 July to 6 August, the historic industrial halls of Lübeck's Kulturwerft Gollan shipyard will be transformed into a summer living room for the SHMF Shipyard Summer. Whether in a deckchair with your feet in the sand or in cosy vintage furniture: the unique atmosphere of the factory halls invites you to linger and socialise before and after the concerts. The programme of the Shipyard Summer Concerts includes West African sounds, Nordic folk, Anatolian and Brazilian musical traditions as well as beat-heavy techno-jazz.
Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra
"Let's make music as friends": under this motto of conductor and SHMF co-founder Leonard Bernstein, over 100 young top musicians from a wide range of nations have come together every summer since 1987 to form the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra (SHFO). The members of the SHFO have qualified during the winter months at auditions in around 30 locations worldwide and receive a scholarship that covers their trip to Schleswig-Holstein, their stay at the Nordkolleg Rendsburg and rehearsals from the beginning of July to the end of August.
This year, Teddy Abrams, Andrew Manze, Katharina Wincor and Stefan Geiger will conduct the festival orchestra. Christoph Eschenbach, Principal Conductor of the Festival Orchestra, will also organise a work phase. The programme of the 17 concerts includes "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Zoltán Kodály's "Dances from Galanta" and Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9. Together with Tabea Zimmermann, the young musicians will perform "Harold en Italie" by Hector Berlioz - a colourful combination of symphony and viola concerto. Ray Chen performs together with the SHFO as soloist in Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto and in Lübeck and Lüneburg the festival orchestra plays live to the silent film "The Artist" on the big screen, which won five awards at the 2012 Oscars.
Schleswig-Holstein Festival Choir
Every year since 2014, ambitious singers from Schleswig-Holstein and all over Germany have come together in the festival choir. They work together on major choral works and perform concerts at the SHMF under professional direction. In this summer's first programme, the choir will dedicate itself to Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor - one of the central choral works of the Baroque era, whose monumentally powerful to transparent lyrical passages make it one of the most expressive works in music history. The concert will take place on 11 July 2026 in Lübeck. In keeping with the city focus on Stockholm, the festival choir will also present a concert version of the musical "Chess" by ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and musical lyricist Tim Rice on 29 August in Lübeck and 30 August in Sonderburg (Denmark). Both programmes will be conducted by choir director Nicolas Fink.
Campus - Take part in the festival!
For around 35 years, the SHMF Masterclasses have seen internationally renowned artists dedicate themselves to the further training of talented young soloists and chamber musicians. The participants come from all over the world and find ideal rehearsal conditions in the wonderful ambience of the Musikhochschule Lübeck. In 2026, The King's Singers (23 to 26 July), violinist Midori (17 to 21 August) and cellist Frans Helmerson (18 to 22 August) will teach young musicians at the masterclasses. The courses are open to the public and invite guest listeners to attend the lessons. At the end of the courses, the participants present their progress at the masterclass concerts.
Former SHMF portrait artist Avi Avital will not only return to the SHMF as a soloist in 2026, but will also take on the role of lecturer at the mandolin workshop. From 18 to 22 July, he will immerse himself in the great sound world of the plucked instruments together with mandolin players of all ages and abilities - from the finest solo nuances to orchestral splendour. At the end of the joint rehearsal period, the participants will give a final concert at the Musikhochschule Lübeck on 22 July.
Interested amateur brass players can attend a workshop with the internationally renowned trombonist Nils Landgren from 9 to 13 August and become part of an ensemble of around 70 brass players. Whether with trombone, trumpet, horn or tuba - the participants will work together to create a varied programme, which they will perform on stage at the Musikhochschule Lübeck on 13 August.
From 4 to 6 August, passionate amateur actors and actresses will be given the opportunity to play masks. In a workshop, Michael Vogel, co-founder and artistic director of the acclaimed theatre company Familie Flöz, will introduce participants to the secrets of pantomime. Participants will learn how to give a mask expression and personality - and slip into different roles themselves. The workshop takes place in Kiel.
Registrations for the masterclasses and workshops are possible until 29 March. The masterclasses as well as the mandolin and brass workshops are sponsored by the Possehl-Stiftung.
"Meisterschüler - Meister"
In the "Meisterschüler - Meister" concert series sponsored by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, a star of the music world passes on his expertise to young upcoming talent and works with them on the interpretation of selected works. This year , cellist Anastasia Kobekina shares her knowledge as a master with violinist Marie Helling, violinist Maxim Tzekov, violist Arcan Isenkul and cellist Angela Aguareles. Anastasia Kobekina, herself only 31 years old, can already look back on an impressive career. She is a Sony Classical Exclusive Artist and winner of the Leonard Bernstein Award 2024. Together with the young musicians, she will be working on two string quintets by composers Franz Schubert and Alexander Glazunov. They will present the results of their joint work at concerts in Bordesholm and Nieblum.
"Singstars!"
The SHMF project "Singstars!" enters its third round in 2026. Singing is fun, relieves tension and promotes the development of social, language and communication skills, especially in children. In collaboration with the SHMF, experienced music teachers will accompany four primary schools in Elmshorn, Holm, Scharbeutz and Neumünster, where regular music lessons cannot take place, for six months. Together with the pupils in the second and third grades, they develop a varied programme and deal with questions such as: "What does singing mean to us?", "What do songs sound like in different cultures?" and "How can we use music to show that differences enrich us?" under the theme "We are colourful". The project will conclude with a concert by all classes on 19 June in the Holstenhallen Neumünster, where the children will present the songs they have rehearsed. The concert is sponsored by the Stiftung Nör, the Bürgerstiftung Elmshorn, the Claussen-Simon-Stiftung, the Dr. Hans Hoch Stiftung, the Georg-Plate-Stiftung and the Unser Norden Stiftung.
Hindemith Prize
The Hindemith Prize, endowed with 20,000 euros, honours outstanding contemporary composers as part of the SHMF. In 2026, the Berlin composer Birke Bertelsmeier will receive the 37th Hindemith Prize. The jury recognises Birke Bertelsmeier as a "sound inventor whose music amazes, leaves conventions behind and surprises. Nothing seems impossible in this labyrinth of artistic aggregate states and cross-genre imaginations. The common thread running through her rich and varied work is the development of an artistic sovereignty that combines creative and reflective design skills in dialogue." The prize is sponsored by the Fondation Hindemith (Blonay/Switzerland), the Rudolf and Erika Koch-Stiftung, the Walter and Käthe Busche Stiftung and the Gerhard Trede-Stiftung, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The prizewinners' concert will take place on 12 August at the KulturForum in the Stadtgalerie in Kiel.
Leonard Bernstein Award
The Leonard Bernstein Award has been presented as part of the SHMF for 25 years and has established itself as a career springboard for young talent in the classical music scene. In 2026, the Leonard Bernstein Award will go to trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary. Renaudin is equally at home in classical music and jazz and explores a wide variety of soundscapes full of curiosity and energy: from Spanish folk songs to impressionist sounds and songs by the Beatles. "Switching between styles is absolutely refreshing for me - it gives me the feeling of being alive," she says. The jury explained their decision in favour of the award winner with the words:
"Lucienne Renaudin Vary knows no pigeonholes in music. In the spirit of Leonard Bernstein, she effortlessly combines different musical worlds, expands the repertoire for the trumpet in an impressive way and impresses with the highest level of artistic excellence. Her extraordinary versatility and technical brilliance make her one of the most influential musical personalities of her generation."
To mark the 25th anniversary, the prize money for the Leonard Bernstein Award, sponsored by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, has been increased to 20,000 euros. The prizewinners' concert will take place on 21 August at the Musik- und Kongresshalle Lübeck. Together with the ensemble reflektor orchestra under the direction of Vimbayi Kaziboni, Lucienne Renaudin Vary will present Joseph Haydn's Trumpet Concerto and George Gershwin's "An American in Paris".
"Musikfest auf dem Lande" - The music festivals in the countryside
They are the centrepiece of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival: the "Musikfest auf dem Lande" - music festivals in the countryside. Over five weekends, the most beautiful estates in Schleswig-Holstein - Hasselburg, Stocksee, Emkendorf, Pronstorf and Wotersen - will once again open their doors and invite you to special cultural experiences in the midst of picturesque nature. In addition to the idyllic countryside and farms, the audience can expect a varied concert programme from established artists as well as young talents. The music festivals in the countryside are presented by CITTI. Product partners are Schwartauer Werke, Dithmarscher Privatbrauerei and Fürst Bismarck Mineralwasser. The programme for the Music Festivals in the Countryside will be published on 23 April.
New venues
In 2026, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival will be held for the first time in the Kleines Theater Schillerstrasse in Geesthacht. With the Schlosspark as an open-air area, another stage will be added in Glücksburg. In Lübeck, the Lutherkirche and St. Philippus Kirche are new venues.