The Art of Togetherness

For this evening, the Erholungshaus should actually be renamed, because you certainly won't find relaxation here – but you'll need it afterwards! We bring Caribbean exuberance and the summer rhythms of Latin America to Leverkusen. The musicians of Palito Aché bring the music of their homelands authentically to the stage. They not only want to spread a party atmosphere but also celebrate joy of life, peaceful coexistence, and cultural richness: the fitting prelude for the stARTfestival 2025.

Palito Aché: Pablo Pellecer (percussion), Leo Morgado (guitar), Marcos Gutiérrez (guitar, vocals), Lisbania Perez (vocals), João Gomes (saxophone, flute), Adareydis (vocals)

Music speaks from person to person, from soul to soul – we can "understand" it even if we don't speak the sung language. For his program "The Human Voice," pianist and stARTacademy scholar Giorgi Gigashvili has teamed up with young singer Kato Kvaratskhelia. Together, they have put together a program that is shaped by their love for their Georgian homeland. A highly emotional dialogue develops: singing and piano respond to each other, spurring each other on. And if the moment's emotion requires it, the piano also becomes a percussion instrument. The repertoire ranges from folk to jazz – world music in the best sense!

Giorgi Gigashvili (piano), Kato Kvaratskhelia (vocals)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

With kind support of Klassik Stiftung Weimar

Two of the most exciting choreographers of our time in a double pack! With the short gem "Unfolding," former stARTacademy scholar Philippe Kratz returns as a choreographer to his hometown. From highly complex solos, an artful, intricate group forms. In Sharon Eyal's piece "Promise," the interaction of the dancers is also central. Inextricably linked, they give dance form to confinement and love, closeness and longing, ecstasy and loneliness. With their idiosyncratic body languages, both works challenge the full technical prowess of the tanzmainz dancers. The experimental ensemble reflects the multifaceted societal challenges of our time.

"Unfolding": Philippe Kratz (choreography), Tom Van de Ven (choreographic assistance), Grace Lyell, Pauline Gudet (costumes), Paul Elie, Elisabeth Gareis, Oriana Oliveira, Réka Rácz (dance)

"Promise": Sharon Eyal (choreography), Ori Lichtik (composition), Alon Cohen (light, stage), Amber Pansters, Maasa Sakano, Marija Slavec-Neeman, Zachary Chant, Finn Lakeberg, Cornelius Mickel, Matti Tauru (dance)

Two productions of the Staatstheater Mainz, Honne Dohrmann (director tanzmainz), Lisa Besser (artistic production management), Hannah Meyer-Scharenberg (Guest Performance Coordinator), Julia Kraus (Assistant to the Dance Director)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

"Powerfully overwhelming and maximally aesthetic": This is how the Leverkusener Anzeiger praised the acclaimed stARTfestival debut of countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo with l’arte del mondo in 2023, celebrated not only in the queer music theater world. Unparalleled how he wove Handel arias, minimal music, pop lyrics, and spectacular video art together! He has long been one of the megastars at the Metropolitan Opera and has been leading the Opera Philadelphia since June 2024. For the stARTfestival 2025, he has received a carte blanche – because we love to be surprised. He will complement his countertenor repertoire with works by Vivaldi, Mozart, and Osvaldo Golijov with pop standards – newly arranged for falsetto singing specifically for this evening and performed by a specially assembled ensemble. A richly filled grab bag.

Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor (vocals, concept)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

Suffering and joy, sorrow and happiness, love and farewell: Shostakovich's moving song cycle conjures up Jewish life of a bygone era. In 1948, the composer accidentally discovered a book of Jewish folk poems and was deeply moved. Eight beautiful, deeply sad songs were created. However, because he was already under critical observation by the Russian rulers, Shostakovich dared to perform these sensitive compositions only two years after Stalin's death. In the meantime, he had added three more, rather cheerful songs. Under the direction of Jesús Ortega Martinez, the Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra and three outstanding singers will bring the cycle to the stage, framed by thematically related works by Sergei Prokofiev and Max Bruch.

Sergei Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes op. 34
Dmitri Shostakovich: "From Jewish Folk Poetry" – Song Cycle for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Orchestra op. 79a
Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei op. 47
Letters from Sasha Marianna Salzmann: Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Ofer Waldman: Simultaneity. Letters between Israel and Europe (© Suhrkamp Verlag AG, Berlin 2024)

Anush Hovhannisyan (soprano), Lioba Braun (alto), Thomas Ebenstein (tenor), Iris Berben (reading), Jesús Ortega Martínez (conductor), Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra, Cosima Gietzen (violoncello)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

With kind support of the World Jewish Congress

A child prodigy par excellence: Augustin Hadelich has been playing the violin since the age of five. Initially, he could only emulate his idols by ear (YouTube didn't exist yet!), developing his own unique bowing technique. Today, he is considered one of the busiest violinists of our time. We are honored that this world star is taking time for the stARTfestival – and bringing along the equally world-famous chamber orchestra Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. In concert, Hadelich lets himself be carried away by the music – what an experience.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piccola Serenata notturna in D major KV 239
Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata op. 134 (arr.)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Elegy
Joseph Bologne: Concerto no. Op 5, no. 2

Augustin Hadelich (violin), Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

At his stARTfestival debut, tubist Joshua Williams had the audience dancing with the European Tuba Power ensemble. Now, the stARTacademy scholar reveals other facets of his musical personality: as a soloist, he interprets classical works. The Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen is exclusively collaborating with the stARTfestival for this unusual partnership. Although Joshua Williams grew up with the traditional African American music canon, you may not hear it, but you will feel it: "Every experience I have as a musician and as a person influences my playing."

Ludwig van Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Tuba Concerto
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral)

Joshua Williams (tuba), Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Kristiina Poska (conductor)

€35/€15/€5 plus advance booking fee

Dafné Kritharas is a collector: she collects experiences, encounters, impressions – and songs! As the daughter of a French mother and a Greek father, Rebetika and Nissiotika, as well as Sephardic songs, were her lullabies. Singing became as natural to her as breathing. On travels through the Balkans, Greece, and Turkey, she absorbed the music of the locals in all languages. She has always added new themes to traditional tunes, and now she writes her own songs. Her music speaks of the sea, exile, longing, and hope – and it is a plea for the coexistence of cultures. With a powerful, clear, and versatile voice, the multilingual singer captivates her audience. A unique musical journey between East and West!

Dafné Kritharas (vocals), Paul Barreyre (vocals, guitar, bouzouki), Pierre-Antoine Despatures (double bass), Camille El Bacha (piano), Milàn Tabak (drums)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

There are countless books about her and her diary, films, podcasts, museums... The inner states of Anne Frank can hardly be adequately conveyed by all the words and facts – but music can. With his composition from 1969, Soviet composer Grigori Frid makes Anne Frank's longings and fears palpable – creating a new level of understanding for today's young generation. Grigori Frid was also a writer and painter – so it seems fitting that his opera now comes to the stage in an extraordinary version: as a graphic opera. The stage set: like a pop-up card. Only one person is present on stage; projections make the depicted vivid – digital and handmade, documentary and fantastic, with comics, film, gore, and poetry.

Grigori Frid. The Diary of Anne Frank 

Olivia Warburton (Anne Frank), Maura Kopschitz (music theater education), Michael Sangkuhl, Janina Zell (dramaturgy), Falko Herold (video), Patrick Bannwart (stage, set design), David Bösch (direction), Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, Volker Krafft (musical direction)

Age recommendation: from 14 years/class 9
German translation by Ulrike Patow
A production of the Hamburg State Opera in cooperation with the Anne Frank Fonds Basel

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

Free registration for schools via christoph.boehmke@bayer.com

Dmitri Shostakovich underestimated his posthumous fame. Since no one would likely compose a work in his memory after his death, he did it himself and wrote "a quartet that is useless to anyone and ideologically reprehensible" – today, his "String Quartet No. 8" is his most performed composition. It was inspired by his ominous experiences with Russian authorities. It takes a special ensemble to convey its full depth: the young vision string quartet is the perfect choice. Are you ready for a soul-stirring experience?

Ernst Bloch: Prélude B 63
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet in C minor op. 51/1
Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor op. 110

Florian Willeitner (violin), Daniel Stoll (violin), Lander Stuart (viola), Leonard Disselhorst (cello)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

Music is an "essential language" for the violinist Guido Sant’Anna, born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2005, with which the 19-year-old can show his personality in a "spectacularly creative way." His debut concert as a stARTacademy scholar will also be spectacular. The exceptional talent will be accompanied by an exciting group from his homeland: the Neojibá – Youth Orchestra of Bahia. The musicians from a support program for socially disadvantaged children and young people bring a passion and joy of playing to the stage that is often missing in Western ensembles – and at an impressively high level. With a contrasting program – including Bernstein's "West Side Story"! – they will live out their joy of playing. Let yourself be carried away!

Antônio Carlos Gomes: Lo schiavo (The Slave): Alvorada
Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor op. 47
Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story: Symphonic Dances
Aaron Copland: El Salón México
Alberto Ginastera: Suite Estancia op. 8a
(Los Trabajadores agricolas, Danza del trigo,Los Peones de hacienda,Danza final)

Guido Sant’Anna (violin), Neojibá – Youth Orchestra of Bahia, Ricardo Castro (conductor)

€35/€15/€5 plus advance booking fee

Did the GDR have its own sound? How political are musical compositions? What picture does GDR poetry paint, what ideal does the art focus on, what future does it illuminate? These are the questions addressed by pianist Ragna Schirmer, percussionist Matthias Daneck, and actor, director, and author Axel Ranisch ("Naked Over Berlin"). In words and music, they bring four decades of GDR history to life, highlighting contradictions between avant-garde and adaptation, and illuminating music and poetry in the tension between regime criticism and loyalty. In addition to familiar names like Friedrich Goldmann, Bertolt Brecht, and Eva Strittmatter, they also focus on lesser-known ones. Join the trio on a historical journey that also encourages contemporary reflection.

Ragna Schirmer (piano), Matthias Daneck (percussion), Axel Ranisch (speaker)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

To honor the 90th birthday of composer Arvo Pärt, we present a special concert evening. His compositions brought Eastern spirituality to Western concert halls. The music is radically reduced to the essentials. Considered nonconformist due to its modernity and religiosity, Pärt was pushed out of his Estonian homeland by Soviet authorities in 1980 – he only returned in 2008. At the center of the evening is "Stabat Mater," for many one of the most brilliant works of our time. It sets the sufferings of the mother of Jesus to music in a moving way – a real challenge for the singers. We are delighted to have the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and its founder, conductor and Pärt specialist Tõnu Kaljuste, on board. The music shimmers, ethereal sounds and mantra-like chants transport us to another world. Let yourself be entranced!

Arvo Pärt: "Silouan's Song"
Arvo Pärt: "Trisagion"
Arvo Pärt: "Stabat Mater"
Georg Friedrich Handel: Concerto grosso op. 6 No. 5 in D major
Georg Friedrich Handel: "Dixit Dominus"

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Concerto Copenhagen, Tõnu Kaljuste (conductor)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

In cooperation with Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden

We are pleased to continue supporting our stARTacademy scholars even after their funding period. Early in their careers, pianist Alexander Krichel and violinist Tobias Feldmann were supported by us and are now among the renowned virtuosos of their generation. For this evening, they have invited Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan and cellist Benedict Kloeckner. Shostakovich is also in focus here. Once with the nearly unplayable "Romance Suite," once indirectly with a work by his student Georgy Sviridov: written decades ago, it seems like a classical version of Metallica. Who dares to mosh to it? 

Yehezkel Braun: Piano Trio No. 2, 2nd movement "Maestoso"
Georgy Sviridov: Piano Trio 
Dimitri Schostakowitsch: „Romance suite“, op. 127

Anush Hovhannisyan (soprano), Tobias Feldmann (violin), Benedict Kloeckner (violoncello), Alexander Krichel (piano)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

In cooperation with Akademie für Tonkunst

When was the last time you laughed heartily at a dance performance? With "Graces," you'll have plenty of opportunities. The piece is inspired by the mythological Three Graces: the daughters of Zeus who bring grace, beauty, and joy to people. On stage, three male "Graces" meet choreographer Silvia Gribaudi: With passionate humor, charm, and empathy, the "prophetess of the liberated body" questions conventional notions of human (im)perfection – a spectacle that encourages both laughter and reflection on the concept of beauty.

Silvia Gribaudi (choreography), Silvia Gribaudi, Matteo Maffesanti (dramaturgy), Silvia Gribaudi, Siro Guglielmi, Matteo Marchesi, Andrea Rampazzo (dance)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

"One Last Night – live at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg" was the (supposedly) final album of the David Orlowsky Trio after over 20 years of band history in 2019. With a unique style mix of classical, klezmer, and jazz, the virtuoso trio has thrilled audiences worldwide. Orlowsky has also made a name for himself as a classical soloist: "With David Orlowsky, the clarinet seems to transform into a human being," wrote the Hamburger Abendblatt. Now, the David Orlowsky Trio returns in a new formation: At the stARTfestival, it meets the Bayer Wind Orchestra – an encounter from which both sides will learn.

Bayer Wind Orchestra, David Orlowsky feat. Daniel Stelter & Tommy Baldu

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

He knows "wonderfully much" about the lifestyle of the 1920s. But the "piano humorist" has little interest in the usual hits. He is fascinated by gems of cabaret that rarely appeared on shellac – and often come from Jewish artists who are forgotten today. Inspired by Ulrich Liebe's book "Revered, Persecuted, Forgotten," Robert Kreis revives the creatively crazy world of Jewish-German entertainment art from the Weimar era. Artists like Kurt Gerron, Paul O’Montis, or Willy Rosen have long been dead, murdered by the Nazis – their intelligence and wit are immortal!

Robert Kreis (piano, vocals)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

With kind support of Klassik Stiftung Weimar

As a teenager, she sang old jazz and blues songs on the streets of Paris, including classics by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits, which she still has in her repertoire today. Her second album "Careless Live" made her a star in 2004. Her fans waited six years for her ninth album "Let's Walk," released in 2024. Madeleine Peyroux had a lot to process: The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery deeply shook her – and led her to engage even more intensively with African-American literature and the music of her heroes Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, and Marian Anderson. This has left traces in her music – as will be heard in the concert with the WDR Big Band.

Madeleine Peyroux (vocals), Vince Mendoza (conductor WDR Big Band), WDR Big Band

from €39

Dandy, anarchist, and "urban Indian." A moderately talented pianist and detail-obsessed composer. Adored by many, rejected by some. Even in the glamorous Parisian scene around the turn of the century, Maurice Ravel appeared as a unique figure. His music was like him: wonderful and peculiar. Ravel was a master at weaving novel rhythms and harmonies with traditional forms and structures – something seen as a flaw in composition competitions. He dismissed his most famous work, the Bolero, as a "simple exercise in orchestration." Who was this man who would have celebrated his 150th birthday in 2025? Actor Dominique Horwitz, soprano Christiane Karg, and the genre-defying Aris Quartet invite you on a poetic journey into the world of Maurice Ravel – a multifaceted experience for mind and soul.

Maurice Ravel: À la manière de Chabrier, Vocalise, String Quartet in F major op. 35, Cinq mélodies populaires grecques
Valses nobles et sentimentales No. 1: Modéré – très franc, Le tombeau de Couperin
No. 2: Fugue, Sérénade grotesque, Le tombeau de Couperin
No. 1: Prélude, Prélude, Pavane pour une infante défunte, "Kaddish" from "Deux Mélodies, hébraïques"

Christiane Karg (soprano), Ulrike Payer (piano), Dominique Horwitz (recitation), Aris Quartet, Anna Katharina Wildermuth, Noémi Zipperling (violin), Caspar Vinzens (viola), Lukas Sieber (cello), Frank Siebert (concept)

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

That he is a captivating tuba player (and the tuba a remarkably versatile instrument) was proven by Andreas Martin Hofmeir at the stARTfestival 2024: With his ensemble European Tuba Power and guest Joshua Williams, he made the Erholungshaus shake. But he also knows how to charm as an author and musical cabaret artist. He has just released a "Wickedly Mean Instrument Guide" with 77 hilariously scathing poems: All instruments that are not tubas are "thoroughly demeaned" therein – because for him, the tuba is the queen of instruments. Prepare for musical audacities!

Andreas Martin Hofmeir, musical cabaret with tuba

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

The swan is not only a symbol of beauty, grace, and elegance in the West: It is a central being in Indian mythology and represents the innermost self. In the intercultural project by l’arte del mondo, orchestra in residence of Bayer Arts and Culture, Tchaikovsky's masterpiece "Swan Lake" merges with the millennia-old Odissi dance: Classical ballet, defying gravity, meets the grounded movements of the ritual Indian temple dance. Indian and European traditions come together in a spectacular way – musically, visually, in dance, and in narrative. Enjoy virtuosity, grace, and captivating expression!

Indian Swan Lake

Aruna Mohanty, Deda Cristina Colonna (direction, choreography), Massimiliano Toni, Agnimitra Behera, Srinibas Satapathy (composition, arrangements), Werner Ehrhardt (concept, overall direction), l’arte del mondo (orchestra), dancers, singers

€22/€5 plus advance booking fee

A Midsummer Night's Dream. The world-famous comedy by Shakespeare. Basis for Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's incidental music. Valerie Wilhelm and Marc Schwämmlein take large and small viewers on a poetic journey. To the fairy king Oberon, the fairy queen Titania, to Puck with his strange love potions, and all the other mysterious fairy-tale creatures. Because everyone loved it so much at the premiere in 2022, we're playing it again by popular demand! Let yourself be enchanted – hopefully not into a donkey!

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: A Midsummer Night's Dream in a version by Marc Schwämmlein
Valerie Wilhelm (vocals), Marc Schwämmlein (vocals), artist collective Kopffarben, Julia Schäfer (painting)
Johannes Schmidt (animation), Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra, Jesús Ortega Martínez (conductor)

€5 plus advance booking fee

Elisaveta Ilina (piano)

Sönke Schreiber (percussion)

Registration for free participation of schools: christoph.boehmke@bayer.com

Leonie Klein (percussion)

Registration for free participation of schools: christoph.boehmke@bayer.com

Olivia Trummer (piano)

Registration for free participation of schools: christoph.boehmke@bayer.com

As part of a commemoration project for the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, interested parties, especially young people, can visit the exhibition "Yours, Anne. A girl writes history." The exhibition tells the story of Anne Frank, her family, and the time in which she lived with large picture walls. In addition to the historical context, it poses questions to the present in a second part: Who am I? Who are we? Whom do we exclude? What can I achieve? At the heart of the project are up to 30 young people from Leverkusen schools, who will be trained as so-called peer guides in a two-day seminar and then present the exhibition.

Registration for free participation of schools: finkelstein.stiftung@bayer.com 

_{Copyright:
Key visual © Laurence Chaperon (Iris Berben)}