Klangwerkstatt Berlin 2026

The festival will feature outstanding Berlin-based, national and international ensembles and artists of all generations, with numerous world premieres and first performances.

‘If acceleration is the problem, resonance may be the solution,’ writes sociologist Hartmut Rosa in the foreword to *Resonanz*. A Sociology of Our Relationship with the World. He contrasts modern life – which is alienated, insatiably striving for optimisation and leading to collective burnout – with the idea of resonance. By this he means a meaningful relationship with the world based on reciprocity.

Building on Hartmut Rosa’s idea of resonance as a living, reciprocal relationship with the world, Klangwerkstatt Berlin 2026 explores how listening can forge connections: between people, between art and science, nature and technology, perception and understanding. Music is seen not merely as an object of listening, but as a space for shared experience and transformation.

With *Von der Vermessung des Schlafes* (On the Measurement of Sleep), Ensemble LUX:NM explores the phenomena of dreams and sleep. ensemble mosaik continues its musical exploration of the periodic table. The concert evening *Low Frequencies*, featuring double-bass flutist Beatrix Wagner, the American bassist Andrew Munn and BONECRUSHER – an ensemble of twelve trombonists and two percussionists – brings to life the physical impact of the deepest sounds, whilst Uwe Rasch’s large-scale vocal work *Joe/Hab et swais ait en* for 12 vocalists and video, performed by the vocal ensemble AuditivVokal Dresden, reflects on the history of digital media and the construction of reality.

Further highlights include Chiyoko Szlavnics’ expansive *Oracles I–V (listening spaces)* with the EnsembleKollektiv Berlin, a tribute to Matthias Kaul by the Ensemble L’ART POUR L’ART, a late-night concert featuring this year’s DAAD scholarship holder Shasha Chen, and Morton Feldman’s four-hour *For Philip Guston* to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Children’s and youth ensembles, family concerts and lunchtime concerts with light refreshments also provide opportunities for intergenerational exchange. Klangwerkstatt Berlin creates spaces of resonance – for new sounds, new encounters and new ways of experiencing the world together.

Other ensembles in the programme: Trio Abstrakt, Freie Jugendorchesterschule Berlin, Ensemble JungeMusik Berlin, Gerhard Scherer’s chamber music class & Feelharmonie Rheinsberg, Marike Rügert & Richard Putz, Raquel Alves Marquard & Katarina Vowinkel.