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MaerzMusik

Key Visual MaerzMusik 2025

Concerts, Performances, Installations, Discourse Formats

MaerzMusik 2026

The 2026 MaerzMusik will take place from 20 to 29 March. The programme will be published in January.

Crossing Boundaries, Composing Futures

MaerzMusik word mark on a dark blue background

Trailer MaerzMusik 2025, Design: 3pc

© Berliner Festspiele / MaerzMusik

MaerzMusik cherishes a legacy of boundary-crossing creativity, thriving between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the classical and the postmodern, fixed genres and genre-bending. This year, the festival also responds to socio-political, cultural and ecological urgencies, demanding new ways of co-existing. In a moment where continuation in old forms is in question, how do we compose otherwise, in a way that is viable for the future?

Over ten days composers will explore soundscapes and narratives in works crafted for unique constellations of instruments, ensembles and performers. The festival opens with the German premiere of “MELENCOLIA” by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck in cooperation with Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Ensemble Modern. “Streik” for ten drum sets by Enno Poppe and “POETICA” by Chaya Czernowin featuring solo percussionist Steven Schick delve deeper into the riches of the percussion arsenal. Diverse compositions for brass instruments by Liza Lim, Raven Chacon, Wadada Leo Smith and many others were commissioned as part of the projects Global Breath and The Monochrome Project, both initiated by Marco Blaauw. They stretch classical paradigms, inviting audiences into evolving performative realities.

Various projects with multidisciplinary approaches unfold through dismantled hierarchies in music and beyond. Ensemble Nikel presents Mark Barden’s composition “limina” in combination with the German premiere of the dance solo “Sensation 1” by choreographer Ligia Lewis. “Minor Characters” by Matthew Shlomowitz and Jennifer Walshe is a “song cycle for the 21st century” that examines how the internet communicates reality to us, while Nguyễn + Transitory’s collaboration with Thai dancers embodies vulnerability through an interactive, touch-sensitive instrument.

Works by Ute Wassermann and others challenge thresholds of perception, the “Salon of Touch”, conceived by Bastian Zimmermann, discovers immersive sound and tactile experiences, and the works presented by Yarn/Wire on their Berlin debut focus on micro-listening. A cross-generational perspective on the voice is present in performances by Joan La Barbara, Pamela Z, Ty Bouque and Laura Bowler. Each encounter explores the unique textures and expressive potential of the voice, pushing the limits of its artistic use. The festival finale, co-curated by Wojtek Blecharz, explores listening as a relational practice and redefines normative ways of presenting music.

We look forward to welcoming you to the festival!

 

Kamila Metwaly
Artistic Director
MaerzMusik

Matthias Pees
Director
Berliner Festspiele

Library of MaerzMusik

In its third year, the Library of MaerzMusik was opened throughout the festival as a place for gatherings and collective reflection, facilitating encounters between artists, audiences and a range of content. Offering interactive formats, talks and artistic interventions, it aimed to create a space for the exchange of knowledge and shared experiences that was open to the public free of charge.

To the library
People reading sit on sofas in the upper foyer of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

Library of MaerzMusik, 2023

© Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

Festival Magazine 2025

88 pages, German and English

“Towards Sonic Manifolds” is the title of the magazine that accompanied 2025 MaerzMusik while it also reads like a motto for the entire festival. The magazine brings together essays, artists’ conversations and different positions on the themes and protagonists of the programme. Delve deeper into the background and sonic spectrum of MaerzMusik.

Please note: The pdf is not barrier-free.

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Downloadmagazine (pdf, 2.1 MB)

In the Media Library

Find out more about some of 2025 MaerzMusik’s artists: talks, interviews and a portrait are still available in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library.

To the Media Library
Pamela Z uses gestures to control music controllers on a stage.

Pamela Z

© Gretchen Robinette

MaerzMusik 2025

Impressions

  • Ute Wassermann uses a small strwa to blow into an aquarium full of water, which glows a poisonous green colour.

    The Art of Camouflage

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • A person with long hair drums on a kettledrum with lively movements.

    Salon of Touch

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • The stage is colourful and full of small situations with musicians, and screens on which, for example, a dog is projected.

    MELENCOLIA

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • People are standing in the room with drinks. Brass musicians play in the background.

    silent green 2, Peter Jakober

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • The ensemble works with electronic music devices. Their performance is also shown above them as a projection.

    Yarn/Wire

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • Joan La Barbara has her eyes closed and a soft expression on her face. She is wearing a fluffy jumper.

    Joan La Barbara, Voice is the Original Instrument

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • Colourful light spots behind several drums placed next to each other.

    Enno Poppe / Percussion Orchestra Cologne, Streik

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • Kerbaj works on an instrument consisting of several funnels. Cables run together on a wooden desk.

    silent green 1, Mazen Kerbaj

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • A grand piano stands in a light-flooded room. Music stands are covered with a plastic sheet.

    The Urban Tale of a Hippo

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • Bowler sits at a lectern as if giving a lecture. Her hands are projected above her as a blurred image.

    silent green 3, Laura Bowler

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • A collage of various projections showing Pamela Z singing.

    Other Rooms. Pamela Z

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • Smiling spectators sit on the floor. They wear hearing protection.

    Salon of Touch

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • At night: A MaerzMusik banner hangs above the entrance to the Radialsystem.

    Minor Characters / Jennifer Walshe

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • A work of art made of rods hangs above the ensemble in the Memorial Church.

    CHAN: Sonnets and Devotions in the Wilderness

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • A large-scale light installation on the ceiling. Below it, people on sofas or scattered around the room.

    Library of MaerzMusik

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • A performer in a lunge leans away from four other people who are facing her.

    Drifting to the Rhythms at the Southeast of Nowhere, Nguyễn + Transitory

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • Jennifer Walshe wears a loose dress and points two fingers at the audience. Her expression is fierce.

    Minor Characters / Jennifer Walshe

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • The audience moves around the stage. The flyloft is above them.

    Finale MaerzMusik 2025: I AM ALL EARS

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

  • Five people are sitting in a circle, one person is speaking.

    Take a Deep Breath – Artist Talk

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Camille Blake

  • Through the entrance, which leads under the revolving stage, the view falls on a string ensemble.

    Finale MaerzMusik 2025: I AM ALL EARS

    © Berliner Festspiele, photo: Fabian Schellhorn

About MaerzMusik

MaerzMusik sees itself as a place to exchange artistic knowledge(s) through new encounters and collective experiences. The festival is rooted in the multimodality of listening, contemporary music, and sound, employing concerts, performances, installations, music theatre, film screenings, and discursive formats to open up a space where life, art, and theory can co-exist.

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