Jazzfest Berlin

Jazzfest Berlin has always seen itself as a place where tradition meets the future and local perspectives meet global experiences, hosting encounters between different communities, working methods and forms of expression. This year, Camila Nebbia, Mariá Portugal and ganavya – Berlin-based artists originally from Argentina, Brazil and the United States – embody this dialogue, moving effortlessly between continents, artistic scenes and musical languages. Christian Lillinger’s internationally cast world premiere Open Form For Society II presents a radically condensed form of chamber music, with five musicians exploring the bandleader’s intricate compositions on keyboard instruments. BONECRUSHER, an extraordinary orchestra led by Matthias Muche, brings together an impressive ensemble of 12 trombones at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

For six decades now, Anthony Braxton has explored liminal spaces, expanded aesthetic boundaries and invented new musical systems: “My music is like my life: It’s in between these areas.” Fifty years after his first appearance at the Berliner Jazztage and seven years after his remarkable Sonic Genome performance at Gropius Bau, the pioneering multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator returns to the Jazzfest Berlin with a septet created especially for this occasion: “What we call jazz is a sonic continuum. It’s not just about celebration of the past; it’s about the hope of the future.”

Over four days, the 2026 edition of the festival will bring together 24 acts featuring more than 135 musicians from over 25 countries, including four world premieres, two European premieres and five German premieres. Among the guests are some of the most influential voices in the international creative music scene, including the CHICAGO UNDERGROUND Duo, the Tomeka Reid Quartet, the ensemble Twin Talk, Clone Row led by the versatile drummer Ches Smith, the all-star trio Graewe/Drake/Jones and the visionary saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins’s acclaimed quartet, all from the United States. The human voice also plays a central role in this year’s programme. Artists such as Karoline Wallace, Alejandra Charry, Wendy Eisenberg and Amir ElSaffar move between song, improvisation and transcultural sonic research. Jazzfest Berlin welcomes two outstanding artists from the United Kingdom, Alexander Hawkins and Laura Jurd, as well as key figures of the Scandinavian scene, including Elin Forkelid and the ensemble (Exit) Knarr led by bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. From Japan, Otomo Yoshihide joins the festival with his quintet, while Iranian clarinettist Shabnam Parvaresh presents her Sheen Trio at Jazzfest Berlin for the first time.

Creating spaces for encounters, experimentation and the inclusive, sometimes rebellious spirit of jazz, passing this on to future generations and engaging new audiences are at the heart of this year’s Jazzfest Community Week. As part of a multi-day workshop, 25 students from the Jazz Institute Berlin will immerse themselves in Braxton’s musical universe and join him to develop the JIB Creative Music Orchestra. Once again, the district of Moabit will become a hub for numerous neighbourhood and lunchtime concerts, as well as two workshops that playfully combine music, theatre and circus. For the fourth year in a row, the five-day ImproLabs for Kids will welcome around 30 primary school children to KULTURFABRIK Moabit and Kulturmanege Moabit.

The festival will conclude with a Berlin legend: Alexander von Schlippenbach and his Globe Unity Orchestra. The ensemble made music history in the 1960s when it challenged audiences at the Philharmonie Berlin with its uncompromising free jazz. Sixty years after its Jazzfest Berlin debut, the orchestra returns with Apokalyptische Nabelschau to close a festival edition that brings together more than 200 artists, young people, children and adults from Berlin and around the world, aged between six and eighty-eight. Together they embody the artistic diversity, cosmopolitan spirit and innovative strength that have always defined jazz: Dream Baby Dream!

Six artists who have made Berlin their home, all internationally acclaimed musicians and participants in this year’s Jazzfest Berlin, offer insights into their lives and artistic work in the German capital. At the same time, they reflect on the importance of an open, inclusive, locally rooted and internationally connected community as a counterforce to the radicalising and divisive forces shaping our societies.

Cast

Nick Dunston – Washington, D. C. (US)
Raiga Hayashi – Tokio (JP)
Alexander Markvart – Kemerovo (RU)
Camila Nebbia – Buenos Aires (AR)
Mariá Portugal – São Paulo (BR)
Marta Warelis – Leszno (PL)

in conversation with Nadin Deventer – Jazzfest Berlin