Music Festival Brings Forgotten Composers Back to the Stage

With rarely performed works by both forgotten and well-known composers, the “Unerhörtes Mitteldeutschland” music festival celebrates the region’s musical heritage. The 15th edition of the festival will take place from June 26 to July 5, 2026.

Six concerts at six venues

“The festival will feature six concerts at six venues in Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony,” says Daniel Schad, artistic director and chairman of the sponsoring association “Straße der Musik.” “The goal is to bring the musical treasures of Central Germany back to life at historically significant locations.” Many of the venues are already part of the “Straße der Musik” cultural route.

Anniversaries of Ten Central German Composers

The focus is on the anniversaries of ten Central German composers and musical figures. “These composers have not been forgotten because they are bad, but simply because nobody knows them,” said Schad. Among others, the festival will honor the 350th birthdays of Johann Bernhard Bach and Ernst Christian Hesse, the 250th birthday of E.T.A. Hoffmann, and the 200th anniversary of the death of Carl Maria von Weber. In total, there will be around 135 Central German composers celebrating anniversaries in 2026, ten of whom are featured in the festival program.

The patron of the music festival is musicologist and author Prof. Helen Geyer. Her research focuses primarily on music from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and she serves as editor and project director for music-historical editions and cultural projects.

Volunteers Make the Music Festival Possible

The festival will open on June 26 at the Hausneindorf Church. There, gambist Thomas Fritzsch will perform alongside Shalev Ad-El on harpsichord and organ. Additional concerts will take place in Köthen, Markneukirchen, Ostrau, and Halle. The closing concert will be held on July 5 at KulturGut Ermlitz (Saalekreis). There, the vocal trio “rosenroth” will present rarely performed songs.

According to the association, the festival program was made possible thanks to the support of sponsors, artists, volunteers, and local organizations. “Since 2011, we have performed works by 400 composers,” says Schad. “A total of 3,500 composers have been active in Central Germany.”

“Around 1,000 people attend the music festival each year,” says the association’s chairman. Schad estimated this year’s total costs at around 33,000 euros.