Bavarian Brass Easter Concert at Speinshart Monastery

A Concert Opening with Baroque Splendor

The Bavarian Brass Easter Concert has been the festive opening concert of the concert season at Speinshart Monastery for years. The Premonstratensian Abbey in the northern Upper Palatinate opens the doors of its baroque monastery church on Easter Monday at 4 PM, dedicating it for about 90 minutes to the ensemble Bavarian Brass — four trumpets, timpani, and organ.

Bavarian Brass — Four Trumpets, Timpani, and Organ

Bavarian Brass was founded in 1994 by four trained trumpeters and is now one of the leading brass ensembles in German-speaking countries. The six musicians — all orchestral members or music educators with decades of concert experience across Europe — combine original baroque trumpet literature with modern arrangements:

• Benjamin Sebald — musical and organizational direction, piccolo trumpet, trumpet, flugelhorn, corno da caccia
• Florian Zeh — piccolo trumpet, trumpet, flugelhorn
• Sergey Storozhenko — trumpet, flugelhorn
• Volker Hemedinger — trumpet, flugelhorn
• Christoph Günther — percussion, timpani
• Georg Schäffner — organ

Program and Soundscape

The repertoire ranges "from baroque splendor to modern creativity": works by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel in original trumpet parts, pieces from the High Baroque era in Bach's manner of arrangement — organ replacing the continuo —, plus contemporary arrangements and original compositions written by Benjamin Sebald for the ensemble. The Bayerische Rundschau spoke of "tremendous sonic splendor" in previous performances.

The Monastery Church as a Venue

The Speinshart Monastery Church was built at the end of the 17th century and is considered one of the baroque jewels of the Upper Palatinate: stucco by the Wessobrunn School, frescoes by Bartholomäus Lutterer, rich gold leaf. Acoustically, it is a rewarding space for brass and organ programs — reverberation, depth, and clarity blend harmoniously.

Speinshart and Monastic Life

Speinshart Monastery is located in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district in the northern Upper Palatinate, on the edge of the Steinwald forest. The Premonstratensian Abbey was founded in 1145 and, after several historical interruptions, has been reoccupied since 1921. Alongside educational programs and pastoral work, the concert program is one of the firm pillars of monastic life. Around 500 visitors per event have been typical in recent years.