The complete programme of the 2013 MaerzMusik.

MaerzMusik

Exhibitions

By <a href="${link:{uuid:{e401054a-0f37-40bf-80e5-f8d5f8f19f01},repository:{artists},path:{/bfs-mediathek/H/Charlotte-Hug}}}">Charlotte Hug</a>

A great influence on the development of the Son-Icons and Charlotte Hug’s music is her work with and in nature. She lets the drawings be flooded, rained upon or drenched in flowing water, resulting in new structures. In her installations, these Son-Icons become spatial partitions that can be entered and that open up new spaces for thinking and creating. They are visual stimuli for improvisations and compositions. “Slipway to Galaxies” is a solo performance that is situated somewhere between composition and improvisation within the Son-Icons of Hug’s “Mercurial Touch” installation, which was conceived for the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. “Mercurial Touch” integrates newly created Son-Icons that broach the subject of manmade water in Berlin’s urban spaces.“Slipway to Galaxies” is influenced by longer stays in Ireland: transitions between land and water, day and night, life and death represent a central theme in Celtic mythology, are experienced, celebrated and sung about, populated with spirits and transferred into stories. Charlotte Hug takes up these nocturnal myths and relates them to her experiences during a sleep deprivation experiment in a sleep laboratory.

In her works, Swiss musician and artist Charlotte Hug follows the primal musical impulse – the musical gesture - and transcribes her inner visualisations into visual and bodily traces which she draws on semi-transparent paper using both hands. Emerging are so-called Son-Icons, large formatted drawings that can be read as musical notations in many ways.

Ausstellung

Exhibition

MaerzMusik 2013

Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Mercurial Touch - Klanginstallation

Mercurial Touch

By <a href="${link:{uuid:{d77ee881-cd3f-41bc-a45c-e0ed73c6d9b6},repository:{artists},path:{/bfs-mediathek/S/Oliver-Schneller}}}">Oliver Schneller</a>

A technician’s sound check before a concert at the Place des Martyrs in Beirut coinciding with the signal of a cargo ship sounding its horn while entering Istanbul harbor, colliding with the hum of traffic in Downtown Cairo and an ambulance siren recorded at Mount of Olives just outside the old city of Jerusalem. This artificial texture immediately raised numerous questions of urban cultural sonic identity, the impact of architectural and geographic conditions on the acoustic environment of cities, the degree of acoustic presence of religious symbols such as the Muezzin, the ringing of church bells, or the chant of a nearby Talmud School. Some sounds, such as the rumble of thick traffic or the voices of people in the streets, were almost identical in each city. Other sounds, such as a sea-side amusement park in Beirut, or the resonant acoustics of the vast interior of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, were unique and characteristic of one place. Within this acoustic tapestry constantly varying spaces, stories and scenarios briefly open up like windows, momentarily revealing glimpses of human activity.

The central idea of the installation was to produce the illusion of being able to be in four places at once - to listen to four geographically separate locations simultaneously: 11:00 am in Cairo, 11:00 am in Beirut, 11:00 am in Jerusalem, and 11:00 am in Istanbul. The chronologically based synchronization of the individual recordings yielded many staggering coincidences:

Polis. Istanbul – Kairo – Jerusalem – Beirut - Klanginstallation

Polis. Istanbul – Cairo – Jerusalem – Beirut

Polis. Istanbul – Kairo – Jerusalem – Beirut

By <a href="${link:{uuid:{a24a66cb-7a0e-4bdc-bc02-cd9e07eb08a2},repository:{artists},path:{/bfs-mediathek/E/Cevdet-Erek}}}">Cevdet Erek</a>

von <a href="${link:{uuid:{a24a66cb-7a0e-4bdc-bc02-cd9e07eb08a2},repository:{artists},path:{/bfs-mediathek/E/Cevdet-Erek}}}">Cevdet Erek</a>

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Musikî Müzik - Installationen

Musikî M&uuml;zik

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Kalender 2013

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Calendar 2013

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MaerzMusik sees itself as a place for artistic experiences, encounters and collective reflection. Developed from the perspective of listening and supported by contemporary music, the festival opens up a space in which life, art and theory can converge with concerts, performances, installations, music theatre, film presentations and discourse formats.

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MaerzMusik 2025

Today’s Events

Exhibition & Library

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The 2025 MaerzMusik will take place from 21 to 30 March 2025. The programme will be published in January.

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Concerts, Performances, Installations, Discourse Formats

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MaerzMusik 2024: Impressionen

Jazzfest Berlin 2023: Impressions

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Impressions

MaerzMusik 2024

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MaerzMusik 2025: Impressionen Startseite

MaerzMusik 2025: Impressionen

MaerzMusik 2025

MaerzMusik will take place from 21 to 30 March 2025 under the artistic direction of Kamila Metwaly. The 24th festival edition will open with the multimedia music theatre production <a href="${link:{uuid:{f8e2f59f-baea-44c9-9162-3afee63c40ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/melencolia}}}">“MELENCOLIA – A Show Against the Indifference of the Universe”</a> by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The work, commissioned by the Bregenz Festival and Ensemble Modern, will celebrate its German premiere at MaerzMusik in cooperation with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Immersed in 3D soundscapes, performers from Ensemble Modern and the Apollo Choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden take listeners into a deep exploration of enigmatic, melancholic worlds where reality and virtuality are combined on stage.Over the following nine festival days, further multidisciplinary projects and concerts will be presented that transcend traditional dualisms, presenting new interrelational perspectives that underscore the profound interconnectedness of social, technological and ecological systems. Here, music and sound move beyond binary frameworks, reshaping our understanding of relational experience and opening pathways to a more unified perception of existence and listening.Central to this artistic exploration is Enno Poppe’s new composition “Streik“ for ten drum sets, which poses the question: What happens when a solo instrument is multiplied many times? Another perspective on percussion as well as a reflection on the power of breath is offered by the work “POETICA” by Chaya Czernowin, composed for Steven Schick and Les Percussions de Strasbourg. “Minor Characters” by Jennifer Walshe and Matthew Shlomowitz will be presented by Ensemble Nikel in their festival debut, alongside “Limina / Sensation 1” by Mark Barden and Ligia Lewis. And we are looking forward to the new work “Drifting to the Rhythms at the Southeast of Nowhere” by the Berlin-based duo Nguyễn + Transitory, which will be developed this winter in Thailand in collaboration with dance artists from Chiang Mai.MaerzMusik 2025 will also present works by Jad Atoui, Wojtek Blecharz, Raven Chacon, Susie Ibarra, Mazen Kerbaj, Panayiotis Kokoras, Kuba Krzewiński, Joan La Barbara, Catherine Lamb, George Lewis, Liza Lim, Wadada Leo Smith, Ute Wassermann, Pamela Z and others, alongside ensembles that include Percussion Orchestra Cologne, Synaesthesis, Yarn/Wire and The Monochrome Project. Together, composers, artists and musicians will push the boundaries of sound, inviting audiences to explore new, transformative possibilities in contemporary music.Tickets for “MELENCOLIA” are available now. Advance ticket sales for further programme highlights start on 9&nbsp;January. The complete festival programme will be published in February.

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Marking twenty years since artist, writer and performer Vaginal Davis made Berlin her home, Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her expansive oeuvre, punk meets glamour, queer activism meets Black counter-culture and resistance meets desire.

Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt

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Since the 1950s Yoko Ono has been ahead of her time, leaving her mark on visual arts, music and activism. To honour her groundbreaking work, Gropius Bau presents a comprehensive solo exhibition.

YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND

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Musikfest Berlin 2025 brings together guest performances by the world’s best symphony orchestras and choirs from the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Italy, which are rarely heard in Berlin. The full programme is online and tickets are available now.

Musikfest Berlin

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The international literature festival berlin, or ilb for short, is considered one of the most important literary festivals in the world. The programme for the 25th&nbsp;ilb will take place from 11 to 20&nbsp;September 2025. The Young Programme will run from 15 to 20&nbsp;September 2025. The main venue is the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, with additional locations for the Young Programme including Theater an der Parkaue and the Gelbe Villa.

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The international literature festival berlin, or ilb for short, is considered one of the most important literary festivals in the world. The programme for the 25th&nbsp;ilb will take place from 11 to 20&nbsp;September 2025. The Young Programme will run from 15 to 24&nbsp;September 2025. The main venue is the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, with additional locations for the Young Programme including Theater an der Parkaue and the Gelbe Villa.

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4 days, 27 acts, 120 international musicians: At Jazzfest Berlin, exceptional artists who have shaped the style of jazz history will share the stage with up-and-coming voices at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, A-Trane, Quasimodo and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The programme will be published on 11 September.

Jazzfest Berlin

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Over the following nine festival days, further multidisciplinary projects and concerts will be presented that transcend traditional dualisms, presenting new interrelational perspectives. Ensemble Nikel makes its festival debut at Radialsystem with two performative concerts: <a href="${link:{uuid:{d9293055-6d55-491e-acd8-0a479ed7b16d},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/minor-characters}}}">“Minor Characters”</a> by Jennifer Walshe and Matthew Shlomowitz is a “song cycle for the 21st century” that examines how the internet communicates reality to us, while Mark Barden’s composition <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“limina”</a> can be experienced in combination with the German premiere of the dance solo <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“Sensation 1”</a> by American choreographer Ligia Lewis. <a href="${link:{uuid:{f439d55e-00f3-46f2-b568-457ef24ff5bd},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/drifting-to-the-rhythms-at-the-southeast-of-nowhere}}}">“Drifting to the Rhythms at the Southeast of Nowhere”</a> by Nguyễn + Transitory is being developed this winter in Thailand in collaboration with dance artists from Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Trang. The new work by the Berlin-based duo references a range of Southeast Asian folk-dance forms – combining them with experimental electronic music. Also at Radialsystem, the percussion and piano quartet from New York <a href="${link:{uuid:{dd5489de-9639-4329-8810-8dd52fd056ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/yarn-wire}}}">Yarn/Wire</a> makes its Berlin debut with four commissioned works by the composers Sarah Davachi, Jad Atoui, Clara Iannotta and Catherine Lamb.Two performances at the Sophiensæle put animal worlds on stage while blurring genre boundaries. In Ute Wassermann’s <a href="${link:{uuid:{d8547050-f74a-435f-a49e-3ccb6b765bf8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/the-art-of-camouflage-the-urban-tale-of-a-hippo}}}">“The Art of Camouflage”</a> the performers interact with resonances from aquaria filled with bilious green luminescent water and produce mutations of human and amphibian voices. This is followed by the music theatre production <a href="${link:{uuid:{d8547050-f74a-435f-a49e-3ccb6b765bf8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/the-art-of-camouflage-the-urban-tale-of-a-hippo}}}">“The Urban Tale of a Hippo”</a> by composer Panayiotis Kokoras, choreographer Andrius Katinas, and stage and lighting designer Nanni Vapaavuori, that explores posthuman states through instrumental and electronic sounds performed by the Lithuanian ensemble Synaesthesis.At the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the composer and vocalist <a href="${link:{uuid:{7c122669-83dd-4ae8-95fa-aa9a96d3d616},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/voice-is-the-original-instrument}}}">Joan La Barbara</a>, already acclaimed as an icon of contemporary music, will present a programme of her own works that explore the human voice as a multi-faceted instrument in her own unique way. Two current compositions that are performed by large ensembles at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele delve deeper into the riches of the percussion arsenal: Chaya Czernowin composed her work <a href="${link:{uuid:{abbe52d8-0f92-4465-87e9-0466bde1908e},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/poetica}}}">“POETICA”</a> for Steven Schick and Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Here the Israeli US-American composer illuminates both the nature of percussive sounds and the art of breathing. What happens when a solo instrument is multiplied several times? This is the experiment Enno Poppe conducts in his new composition <a href="${link:{uuid:{6c05cc9d-f15a-4555-b4a0-fb42143eb230},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/streik}}}">“Streik”</a> (Strike) for ten drum sets, an exploration of the sonic and narrative spectrum of this special instrument played by musicians of the Percussion Orchestra Cologne.The full festival programme will be announced in February 2025.

MaerzMusik will take place from 21 to 30 March 2025. Tickets have now been released for nine highlights selected from the programme.The 24th edition of the festival opens with the experimental music theatre show <a href="${link:{uuid:{f8e2f59f-baea-44c9-9162-3afee63c40ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/melencolia}}}">“MELENCOLIA”</a> by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. In a series of immersive soundscapes, the musicians of the Ensemble Modern and the Apollo Choir take the listeners with them to explore the creative and transformative power of melancholy worlds.

First Highlights of the Programme on Sale Now

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Trailer MaerzMusik 2025, Design: 3pc

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

In the Media Library

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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.

Library of MaerzMusik

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.<a href="https://berlinerfestspiele.1kcloud.com/ep167d9b37800d48/" target="_blank" title="Full screen view in new window">Full screen view in new window</a><a href="${link:{uuid:{2fc2c1f3-9dfb-4e9e-8b0b-e1a3c6e0c71d},repository:{dam},path:{/bfs-de/indizierte-pdfs/EN/MaerzMusik/mm25_magazin.pdf}}}">Download magazine</a>&nbsp;(pdf, 2.1 MB)

Festival Magazine 2025

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

MaerzMusik 2026

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.

About MaerzMusik

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For its 50th birthday, the GRM’s Acousmonium is visiting MaerzMusik. Find out more about the loudspeaker orchestra designed by François Bayle in our multimedia story, check out interviews with artists such as KMRU, Eiko Ishibashi and Jim O'Rourke, and listen to a selection of pieces by composers like Beatriz Ferreyra, Iannis Xenakis and Eve Aboulkheir.

The Loudspeaker Orchestra: Acousmonium

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Missed a concert? After the festival, you can log on to the Berliner Festspiele media library to experience some of this year's events as audio or video. You can also check out interviews with artists such as Jessica Ekomane and Ensemble Musikfabrik, who provide insight into their work – from public interventions with carillons to the elaborate reconstruction of instruments by composer Lucia Dlugoszewski.

MaerzMusik in the Media Library

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“Contemplations into the Radical Others” is an attempt to tell the story of composer and instrument inventor Lucia Dlugoszewski (1925–2000). In the last two years, MaerzMusik and collaborators engaged in extensive research on her work. Find out more about the research project here.

Contemplations into the Radical Others: The Life of Lucia Dlugoszewski

Mehr zur MaerzMusik 2024

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The festival commences with an immersive auditory experience, reviving a pivotal moment in the history of new and experimental music through INA grm – Groupe de Recherches Musicales’ Acousmonium. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of François Bayle’s invention, we will showcase compositions for the loudspeaker orchestra by composers such as Beatriz Ferreyra, Eve Aboulkheir, François Bayle and others. EnsembleKollektiv Berlin explores the realm of conscientious listening with works by Helmut Lachenmann as well as Michelle Lou and Ashkan Behzadi. The intergenerational narrative unfolds with Simon Steen-Andersen’s interpretation of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Musik im Bauch” performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg. In this edition, we will continue our focus from last year on composer and artist Lucia Dlugoszewski: we have curated scores, including some unfinished ones, with Marco Blaauw and Christine Chapman that have been reconstructed by Ensemble Musikfabrik, rebuilt Dlugoszewski’s percussive instruments, and restaged works conducted for dance, performed by Berlin-based dancers in collaboration with Katherine Duke and the Erick Hawkins Company. Spread throughout the city, the series “Topographies of Hearing” features installations and interventions by Christina Kubisch, Jessica Ekomane, Audrey Chen and others. In navigating the uncharted territories of our collective futures, this year’s edition embraces the ongoing processes that are underway rather than fixating on conclusive ideas.We look forward to experiencing MaerzMusik 2024 with you!

MaerzMusik 2024 is positioning itself as an open-ended experience centred on conscientious listening, while also highlighting the constantly evolving tapestry of musical interplay among different generations and movements. With the ensembles, artists, musicians and composers invited, the festival examines the multi-layered potential of music through a programme that dovetails with the performing arts, sound, artistic interventions and more.

MaerzMusik 2024

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Trailer MaerzMusik 2024, Design: 3pc

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 <a href="${link:{uuid:{f8e2f59f-baea-44c9-9162-3afee63c40ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/melencolia}}}">“MELENCOLIA”</a> by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck in cooperation with Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Ensemble Modern. <a href="${link:{uuid:{6c05cc9d-f15a-4555-b4a0-fb42143eb230},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/streik}}}">“Streik”</a> for ten drum sets by Enno Poppe and <a href="${link:{uuid:{abbe52d8-0f92-4465-87e9-0466bde1908e},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/poetica}}}">“POETICA”</a> by Chaya Czernowin featuring solo percussionist Steven Schick delve deeper into the riches of the percussion arsenal. Diverse compositions for brass instruments by <a href="${link:{uuid:{892af5f5-19e3-4780-b9b6-47657cca8275},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-3}}}">Liza Lim</a>, <a href="${link:{uuid:{06659eb0-0a73-4d10-be12-aec39da9e44f},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-4}}}">Raven Chacon</a>, <a href="${link:{uuid:{7d2794f1-3f58-4225-b43c-57ff4e6f66b8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-2}}}">Wadada Leo Smith</a> 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 <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“limina”</a> in combination with the German premiere of the dance solo <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“Sensation 1”</a> by choreographer Ligia Lewis. <a href="${link:{uuid:{d9293055-6d55-491e-acd8-0a479ed7b16d},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/minor-characters}}}">“Minor Characters”</a> by Matthew Shlomowitz and Jennifer Walshe is a “song cycle for the 21st century” that examines how the internet communicates reality to us, while <a href="${link:{uuid:{f439d55e-00f3-46f2-b568-457ef24ff5bd},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/drifting-to-the-rhythms-at-the-southeast-of-nowhere}}}">Nguyễn + Transitory’s collaboration with Thai dancers</a> embodies vulnerability through an interactive, touch-sensitive instrument.<a href="${link:{uuid:{d8547050-f74a-435f-a49e-3ccb6b765bf8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/the-art-of-camouflage-the-urban-tale-of-a-hippo}}}">Works by Ute Wassermann and others</a> challenge thresholds of perception, the <a href="${link:{uuid:{13ce3ecd-9ea8-4a5e-974f-54593f82f6b5},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/salon-of-touch}}}">“Salon of Touch”</a>, conceived by Bastian Zimmermann, discovers immersive sound and tactile experiences, and the works presented by <a href="${link:{uuid:{dd5489de-9639-4329-8810-8dd52fd056ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/yarn-wire}}}">Yarn/Wire</a> on their Berlin debut focus on micro-listening. A cross-generational perspective on the voice is present in performances by <a href="${link:{uuid:{9ec82998-bf65-4034-a959-9bd38bc3c60b},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-mediathek/maerzmusik/2025/voice-is-the-original-instrument}}}">Joan La Barbara</a>, <a href="${link:{uuid:{d1113296-11d8-4853-8fb5-37e9e60c4122},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/other-rooms}}}">Pamela Z</a>, <a href="${link:{uuid:{00d6b7e2-2417-4c44-adfd-a60afc42dab4},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-1}}}">Ty Bouque</a> and <a href="${link:{uuid:{892af5f5-19e3-4780-b9b6-47657cca8275},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-3}}}">Laura Bowler</a>. Each encounter explores the unique textures and expressive potential of the voice, pushing the limits of its artistic use. <a href="${link:{uuid:{abb72d84-6499-4951-b299-1537af83371c},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/finale-maerzmusik-2025}}}">The festival finale</a>, 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!&nbsp;Kamila Metwaly Artistic Director MaerzMusikMatthias Pees Director Berliner Festspiele

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?

Crossing Boundaries, Composing Futures

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 <a href="${link:{uuid:{f8e2f59f-baea-44c9-9162-3afee63c40ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/melencolia}}}">“MELENCOLIA”</a> by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck in cooperation with Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Ensemble Modern. <a href="${link:{uuid:{6c05cc9d-f15a-4555-b4a0-fb42143eb230},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/streik}}}">“Streik”</a> for ten drum sets by Enno Poppe and <a href="${link:{uuid:{abbe52d8-0f92-4465-87e9-0466bde1908e},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/poetica}}}">“POETICA”</a> by Chaya Czernowin featuring solo percussionist Steven Schick delve deeper into the riches of the percussion arsenal. Diverse compositions for brass instruments by Liza Lim, Raven Chacon, Wadada Leo Smith and many others were commissioned as part of the projects <a href="${link:{uuid:{00d6b7e2-2417-4c44-adfd-a60afc42dab4},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-1}}}">Global Breath</a> and <a href="${link:{uuid:{7d2794f1-3f58-4225-b43c-57ff4e6f66b8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/silent-green-2}}}">The Monochrome Project</a>, both initiated by Marco Blaauw. They stretch classical paradigms, inviting audiences into evolving performative realities.Various projects with multidisciplinary approaches unfold through dismantled hierarchies in music and beyond. Ensemble Nikel presents Mark Barden’s composition <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“limina”</a> in combination with the German premiere of the dance solo <a href="${link:{uuid:{681adb03-4854-4754-8ff8-c3338d208006},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/limina-sensation-1}}}">“Sensation 1”</a> by choreographer Ligia Lewis. <a href="${link:{uuid:{d9293055-6d55-491e-acd8-0a479ed7b16d},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/minor-characters}}}">“Minor Characters”</a> by Matthew Shlomowitz and Jennifer Walshe is a “song cycle for the 21st century” that examines how the internet communicates reality to us, while <a href="${link:{uuid:{f439d55e-00f3-46f2-b568-457ef24ff5bd},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/drifting-to-the-rhythms-at-the-southeast-of-nowhere}}}">Nguyễn + Transitory’s collaboration with Thai dancers</a> embodies vulnerability through an interactive, touch-sensitive instrument.<a href="${link:{uuid:{d8547050-f74a-435f-a49e-3ccb6b765bf8},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/the-art-of-camouflage-the-urban-tale-of-a-hippo}}}">Works by Ute Wassermann and others</a> challenge thresholds of perception, the <a href="${link:{uuid:{13ce3ecd-9ea8-4a5e-974f-54593f82f6b5},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/salon-of-touch}}}">“Salon of Touch”</a>, conceived by Bastian Zimmermann, discovers immersive sound and tactile experiences, and the works presented by <a href="${link:{uuid:{dd5489de-9639-4329-8810-8dd52fd056ab},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/yarn-wire}}}">Yarn/Wire</a> on their Berlin debut focus on micro-listening. A cross-generational perspective on the voice is present in performances by <a href="${link:{uuid:{9ec82998-bf65-4034-a959-9bd38bc3c60b},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-mediathek/maerzmusik/2025/voice-is-the-original-instrument}}}">Joan La Barbara</a>, <a href="${link:{uuid:{d1113296-11d8-4853-8fb5-37e9e60c4122},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/other-rooms}}}">Pamela Z</a>, Ty Bouque and Laura Bowler. Each encounter explores the unique textures and expressive potential of the voice, pushing the limits of its artistic use. <a href="${link:{uuid:{abb72d84-6499-4951-b299-1537af83371c},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/maerzmusik/programm/2025/kalender/finale-maerzmusik-2025}}}">The festival finale</a>, 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!&nbsp;Kamila Metwaly Artistic Director MaerzMusikMatthias Pees Director Berliner Festspiele

mm25_melencolia_1

A Show Against the Indifference of the Universe

MaerzMusik 2025 opens with “MELENCOLIA”, an experimental music theatre show by Brigitta Muntendorf and Moritz Lobeck. In immersive soundscapes, musicians from Ensemble Modern and the Apollo Choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden invite the audience to explore the creative and transformative power of melancholic worlds. Tickets are available now.

MELENCOLIA

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MaerzMusik sees itself as a venue for experiencing art: for new encounters and collective reflection. Devised from the perspective of listening and sustained by contemporary music, the festival uses concerts, performances, installations, music theatre, film presentations and discursive formats to open up a space where life, art and theory can converge.