Cheers for Bill Murray at the Dresden Music Festival

The Dresden Music Festival came to a close on Sunday with a spectacular show. The musical-literary program “New Worlds,” featuring U.S. actor Bill Murray and a trio led by Dresden cellist and festival director Jan Vogler, was deliberately billed not as a concert but as a show. 

Audience gets one encore after another

Murray recited texts by Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman, Billy Collins, and James Fenimore Cooper, and also performed as a singer, for example with songs from Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story.” The audience in the hall went wild and demanded one encore after another. With violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez, two outstanding musicians were also on stage. 

In addition to the Prélude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, the program featured music by Maurice Ravel, Astor Piazzolla, George Gershwin, Dmitri Shostakovich, Franz Schubert, and Manuel de Falla. As a “surprise” not listed in the program, Murray sang the Tom Waits classic “The Piano Has Been Drinking.” Murray also took the microphone for Van Morrison’s “When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God.” The concert ended with a standing ovation from the audience.

Music Festival Attracted Audiences with “The Lightness of Being”

The 49th edition of the Music Festival was held under the theme “The Lightness of Being” and featured 64 concerts and other performances over the past four weeks. Vogler had already taken stock on Saturday and announced record results. A 96 percent capacity utilization has never been seen before. Ticket sales revenue of more than 2.2 million euros was ten percent higher than previous bests. A total of around 68,000 guests attended, including 10,000 from across Germany and abroad.

The Music Festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027

In the coming years, the festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The anniversary was already kicked off in September with a guest performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Tugan Sokhiev and featuring violinist Hilary Hahn as soloist. Music fans are invited to write down their memories of special moments from the festival for its 50th anniversary.