Keep playing, join in!

Of course, it's also about advancing. Those who participate in Jugend musiziert face the competition, practise their performance and present themselves to an experienced jury.

Based on their outstanding musical performances, 359 participants from the Berlin regional competitions in February were forwarded to the state competition. This is a record number after a new registration record of more than 850 young people. The state competition begins on 18 March. ‘These figures show the unbroken motivation of Berlin's children and young people to engage in competition, exchange and encounter,’ says Markus Wenz, chairman of the Berlin State Committee of Jugend musiziert.

This year's solo categories are piano, harp, singing, drum set (pop), guitar (pop), and the ensemble categories are chamber music for string instruments, chamber music for wind instruments, chamber music for mixed ensembles, accordion chamber music, and special ensembles: new music. In addition, there are additional Berlin categories, including, for the first time, ‘early music’ as a solo category, which is in high demand with 17 participants. For several years now, Jugend musiziert Berlin has also reflected the cultural diversity of the city's society with instruments such as the nay and oud.

A total of 497 participants are expected.

Germany's largest competition for promoting young musical talent is opening up new horizons. This year, this will also take place in five attractive workshops offered during the Berlin state competition. Take early music, for example: in 2024, the Berlin State Music Council launched JAM – the Berlin Early Music Youth Ensemble. Since then, the ensemble has been thrilling audiences and has even performed alongside the internationally renowned musicians who have supported JAM since its inception: Capella de la Torre. Its founder and artistic director Katharina Bäuml and her ensemble colleague Hille Wippermann developed the ‘JAM Sessions’ workshop especially for the Berlin regional competition Jugend musiziert. Over two days, all young people interested in Renaissance and early Baroque music can take a journey through time with their (modern) instruments and perform on stage in small concerts with the Capella musicians.

The other workshops are by no means only aimed at young people participating in the state competition. The workshop ‘New Music – What Remains of the Earworm’ with composer Eleftherios Veniadis is even open to young people aged ten and above and adults. Other workshops deal with coping with stage fright and new possibilities for (electronic) sound production.

Detailed information on the respective workshops and registration links can be found here:
https://www.landesmusikrat-berlin.de/jugendprojekte/jugend-musiziert-berlin/


The Berlin state competition will take place from 18 to 22 March 2026 at several locations at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin). All auditions are open to the public.

Concert by the state prize winners:

On 19 April at 5 p.m. in the Konzerthaus Berlin, Kleiner Saal.

Tickets are available here:
https://www.konzerthaus.de/de/programm/konzert-der-landespreistragerinnen-jugend-musiziert-berlin/12414


General information about the competition:
https://www.landesmusikrat-berlin.de/jugendprojekte/jugend-musiziert-berlin/


Information about the additional Berlin categories is available here:
https://www.landesmusikrat-berlin.de/jugendprojekte/jugend-musiziert-berlin/#Wettbewerbsskategorien2026

Detailed information on results, conditions of participation and the further course of the competition can be found on the official website of ‘Jugend musiziert’ at www.jugend-musiziert.org


Contact persons

Christiane Wallendorf, Project Manager, Jugend musiziert Berlin
wallendorf@landesmusikrat-berlin.de

Clemens Koch, Project Manager, Jugend musiziert Berlin, Pop
koch@landesmusikrat-berlin.de

Christina Bylow, Press and Public Relations
bylow@landesmusikrat-berlin.de

Jugend musiziert is a three-stage, nationwide competition open to all children and young people from the non-professional music sector. It will take place for the 63rd time in 2026. At the Berlin regional and state level, the competition is organised by the Landesmusikrat Berlin e.V. (Berlin State Music Council). The national competition, the third stage, takes place in a different German city each year, this year in Munich and Regensburg.

The Landesmusikrat Berlin e.V. supports the institutions and associations that shape Berlin's musical life. It represents and coordinates the music policy interests of its members and advises the Senate and the parliamentary groups in the Berlin House of Representatives. The Landesmusikrat itself is involved in Berlin's cultural landscape through its own projects. In doing so, it focuses particularly on young musical talent.