The "Eckelshausener Musiktage" was founded 40 years ago at the Schartenhof – that historic venue which remains the heart and soul of the festival to this day. Over the decades, an artistic initiative born in this unique setting has developed into a cultural project whose influence extends far beyond the region. The Schartenhof not only symbolises the festival’s beginnings, but continues to shape the identity of the Eckelshausen Music Festival to this day through its atmosphere and history. From 16 to 24 May 2026, the world of music will once again gather in the blossoming Lahn Valley. Tickets for the festival are now on sale.
Over the past decades, we have succeeded in establishing a vibrant international cultural scene in small towns and villages far from the major urban centres. The Music Days remain an innovative cultural project: they offer a stage to young up-and-coming musicians and competition winners as well as renowned artists of international standing, whilst also serving as a meeting place for music-loving audiences of all generations.
This year, too, the 34th Eckelshausen Music Festival, running from 16 to 24 May 2026 under the motto “SchartenKlänge”, invites you to experience music in extraordinary venues and amidst a charming landscape – entirely in the spirit of the Schartenhof, where it all began.
The opening weekend in the Manfred Roth Atrium in Buchenau already promises special highlights: on Saturday, 16 May at 7 pm, the Baroque ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt will perform with three soloists: Katharina Anders on oboe, Karl Kaiser on transverse flute and Michael Schneider on recorder. The programme features the finest Baroque concertos by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel and Fasch, as well as Marcello. On Sunday, 17 May at 5 pm, the programme ‘Eulenspiegel’s Pranks and Schubert’s Dreams’ follows, first delighting the audience with wit and poetry and then performing Franz Schubert’s Octet, one of the most significant works of chamber music. The audience can look forward to the young stars Theo Plath (bassoon), Nemorino Scheliga (clarinet), Marc Gruber (horn), Simon Aringer (double bass) and the ARIS Quartet.
On Wednesday, 20 May, the young Trio Aubade – alumni of the Kronberg Academy and students at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts – will perform at the Protestant church in Eckelshausen, adjacent to the Schartenhof – one of the first festival venues of the Eckelshausen Music Days. The trio will perform Schubert’s Trio in B flat major, Beethoven’s String Trio in G major, as well as works by Jean Francaix, Dobrinka Tabakova and Zoltan Tabakova. The concert begins at 7 pm.
The following day, Thursday 21 May, artistic director Julius Berger (cello) invites you to the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments in Marburg for a special listening experience in an extraordinary atmosphere. Together with percussionist Andrei Pushkarev, he will present a musical reading in the form of a strolling concert – ‘ÜberLebnskunst?’ is the title of the one-hour event, which begins at 7 pm.
Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica will provide a glittering finale at the elkamet Music Hall in Dautphetal-Friedensdorf: On Saturday, 23 May, the programme features Baltic compositions as well as works by Giovanni Bonato and Luigi Boccherini. The closing concert on Whit Sunday is dedicated, among other things, to Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “The American Four Seasons”, performed by Gidon Kremer. The programme is complemented by a special arrangement of the overture from “The Abduction from the Seraglio” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, performed by the young pianist Lukas Geniušas.
The Eckelshausen Music Festival thus remains true to its roots: rooted in the Schartenhof yet open to new artistic influences, it invites visitors to experience music of the highest calibre in a unique atmosphere. Visitors can look forward to unforgettable concerts and inspiring encounters in the Upper Lahn Valley.
Tickets for the 34th Eckelshausen Music Festival, themed ‘SchartenKlänge’, are available at a price of €45, €40 and €35 for the concerts and €30 for the strolling concert via https://www.deinetickets.de/shop/knzerte/de/start/, by email to info@eckelshausener-musiktage.de or via the payphone 06461 / 701 9724 available by post and at the box office.
Further information: www.eckelshausener-musiktage.de
[Source: Eckelshausener Musiktage]