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© Chamber Music Festival Sylt | Francesco Ubertalli

Sylt Chamber Music Festival

Sylt Chamber Music Festival 2026

  • July 25-30, 2026

  • High-class chamber music

  • island-wide

World of Childhood

A child sits on the floor and listens attentively to a concert.
© Matthew Johnson | KmfSylt

From the July 25-30, 2026 The Sylt Chamber Music Festival once again invites you to a summer full of music – this time, the festival opens the space for an artistic encounter with the world that has shaped us all: the world of childhood, which never quite lets go of us as adults. However, the next edition is not a children's festival: rather, the Cellist and artistic director Claude Frochaux The audience is invited to experience the inimitable world of childhood in all its uniqueness. A world full of boundless imagination, carefree lightness, and honest naivety – but also a cosmos that includes certain fears, dangers, and vulnerabilities.

The festival invites us to shift our perspective: on the one hand, we as adults see things through the eyes of children – with wonder, playfulness, and openness. On the other hand, we as adults view the world of children with reflection, longing, and sometimes melancholy. In the 6 festival days The music thus reflects fairytale worlds, lullabies, fantasy journeys, and magical creatures, such as only children can imagine. The program also offers a wealth of precious musical literature dedicated to children or which can be understood as a personal reflection of the composers' childhood memories.

The commissioned work of the Composers in Residence 2026, Peter Vasks, moving, which he will write jointly for the KmfSylt and the Dutch Stiftfestival – and which his premiere on Sylt. The tradition of bringing an internationally renowned composer to the island each year and allowing the KmfSylt audience to discover a part of their oeuvre continues in 2026: with one of the Baltic region's greatest musical exponents. And this even in the incredibly important year of his 80th birthday, which becomes even more special when one considers that the piece for the festival will be dedicated to the world of children.

A string ensemble plays chamber music for an audience in an elegant hall.
© Matthew Johnson | KmfSylt
People are standing at a mobile festival bar outdoors.
© Sylt Chamber Music Festival
Cellist plays on stage, warm light, audience in the background.
© Matthew Johnson | KmfSylt
A string ensemble performs a concert in front of an audience in a church.
© Matthew Johnson | KmfSylt
For the Sylt Chamber Music Festival 2026
A man sits on a sofa with a cello and looks to the right.
© Matthew Johnson | KmfSylt
Enjoy six days full of music with a total of around ten festival concerts at various locations on the North Sea island!
Sylt Chamber Music Festival

Review

That was "THE ETERNAL" Easter Festival from April 17th to 22nd, 2025

The Sylt Chamber Music Festival will become an Easter festival in 2025: From Maundy Thursday, April 17th to April 22nd, international festival artists will be guests on the island to thematically underline this festive occasion with classical music at the highest chamber music level.

Under the title THE ETERNAL The festival follows the dramaturgy of the eternal Easter story – albeit not in a religious key: a musical path is planned that leads through the dramatic curve of death and pain (especially on Good Friday) as well as resurrection and freedom to a life-affirming and peaceful conclusion.

The program includes, analogous to the Easter story, many timeless pieces from the chamber music repertoire. Each concert program will feature an iconic, epoch-making piece, such as cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, the string quintet by Franz Schubert, the piano quintet by Robert Schumann, the clarinet quintet by W.A. Mozart, or the septet by Ludwig van Beethoven. In 2025, several wind instruments will also be represented in the festival ensemble, including, for the first time, a bassoon alongside the clarinet and horn. To the great delight of the festival, the Composer in Residence for this edition will be Thomas Adès from Great Britain will be a guest on the island: as the winner of countless major music awards (including the Grammy, Echo Klassik, and the Gramophone Award), he is one of the most sought-after composers of our time and regularly collaborates with the world's leading orchestras, opera houses, and festivals. Each festival concert will feature one of his pieces, which, along with other rarely heard or lesser-known pieces, will satisfy the audience's curiosity.

An Holy ThursdayOn the opening day of the festival, KmfSylt will be visiting Rantum for the first time. Good Friday In keeping with the quiet holiday, the concert programs focus on two events in St. Thomas in Hörnum and the Village Church of St. Niels in Westerland. With concerts in Sylt Museum in Keitum and in the Muasem Hüs in Morsum the music starts Saturday further. The big Easter concert on Sunday in the Westerländer Church of St. Nicolai The last day of the festival invites you to Matinée in St. Martin in Morsum to its festive conclusion in Friesensaal Keitum At the evening concerts on Sunday and Monday, Composer in Residence Thomas Adès will also be performing as a pianist. A small surprise. The festival will probably end on Tuesday.

Musicians bow after a chamber concert in a festively illuminated church on Sylt.
© Sylt Chamber Music Festival
© Chamber Music Festival Sylt I Thomas Ries
Clarinetist plays by the lake for a seated audience under trees.
© Francesco Ubertalli | Sylt Chamber Music Festival
© Chamber Music Festival Sylt I Francesco Ubertalli