Name: International Bach Festival Hamburg 2026
Start: 2026-04-01T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-04-17T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Elbphilharmonie, Laeiszhalle, Hauptkirchen (St. Michaelis, St. Petri, St. Jacobi), Hansestädte Lübeck/Bremen/Lüneburg

Bach Festival Hamburg

About Bach Festival Hamburg

Hamburg is a Bach city: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach worked here for 20 years as Music Director, Georg Philipp Telemann lived here, and Johann Christian Bach composed for the Hamburg Opera. The International Bach Festival focuses on the entire Bach family, featuring over 50 events with 100 ensembles in Hamburg and surrounding Hanseatic cities in April.

Dates 01 Apr — 17 Apr 2026

Venue Hamburg (02000)

Prices —

Status Confirmed

Edition 2026

Bach Festival Hamburg — edition 2026

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The 4th International Bach Festival Hamburg runs from April 1 to 17, 2026, with over 50 events, 100 ensembles, and 100 artists at 50 locations. Series title 2026: "HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK" – featuring concerts in Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, and Lüneburg. Highlights: "The Art of Fugue" at the Laeiszhalle and "Amadis de Gaule" by Johann Christian Bach at the Elbphilharmonie.

Four Weeks of the Bach Family

From Wednesday, April 1 to Friday, April 17, 2026, the fourth International Bach Festival Hamburg will take place. Over 50 events are spread across two and a half weeks: concerts, talks, networking meetings, sing-alongs, lectures. Over 100 ensembles and 100 artists are involved.

Series Title "HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK"

The 2026 festival curatorially opens beyond Hamburg's city limits: The main churches in Lübeck, Bremen, and Lüneburg invite you to various Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach and become part of the festival program. This creates a Hanseatic Bach network that picks up on the historically close connection of these cities to the Bach family.

Highlights Bach Festival Hamburg 2026

"The Art of Fugue" at the Laeiszhalle. "Amadis de Gaule" by J. Chr. Bach at the Elbphilharmonie. Series title HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK with Lübeck, Bremen, Lüneburg.

Programme Bach Festival Hamburg 2026

Highlights 2026 (confirmed)

Mon, April 6 – "Amadis de Gaule" by Johann Christian Bach, Elbphilharmonie
Thu, April 9 – "Oboe Concertos & Symphonies" by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Elbphilharmonie
Tue, April 14 – "The Art of Fugue" by Johann Sebastian Bach, Laeiszhalle
Fri, April 17 – "Secular Cantatas", Laeiszhalle (Closing Concert)

HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK – Passions in the Hanseatic Cities

Lübeck – Marienkirche / Dom: Bach Passion
Bremen – Bremer Dom: Bach Passion
Lüneburg – St. Michaelis (Bach's former school town): Bach Passion

Formats

Concerts – sacred and symphonic, in the Elbphilharmonie, Laeiszhalle, and the main churches
Talks & Networking Meetings – Bach research, performance practice, Early Music today
Sing-Alongs – Audience sings Bach chorales with a professional ensemble
Chamber Concerts in museums, small halls, historic ensembles

Full Program

Over 50 additional program items will be published in Spring 2026 on cpe-bach-akademie.de/bachfest.

Prices Bach Festival Hamburg 2026

Individual tickets per concert via the respective venues. Festival passes and multi-concert bundles via cpe-bach-akademie.de.

Practical information

Practical information — Bach Festival Hamburg

Tickets

Via the CPE-Bach Academy and the respective venues (Elbphilharmonie, Laeiszhalle, main churches).

Venues Hamburg

Elbphilharmonie (Platz der Deutschen Einheit), Laeiszhalle (Johannes-Brahms-Platz), St. Michaelis Church, St. Petri, St. Jacobi, St. Katharinen, among others.

Hanseatic Venues

Lübeck, Bremen, Lüneburg – each with its main church and selected Bach programs.

The Bach Family in Hamburg

While Leipzig is Johann Sebastian's city, Hamburg was home to an entire Bach dynasty for centuries: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Sebastian's second-oldest son, served here for twenty years as municipal Music Director (1768–1788). His uncle Georg Philipp Telemann, a close family friend, was Hamburg's Music Director for decades; his half-brother Johann Christian Bach wrote operas for the Hamburg Opera. The International Bach Festival Hamburg, organized by the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Academy, has been celebrating this heritage as a festival since 2020.

Over 50 Events, 100 Ensembles

For two and a half weeks in April, over 50 venues will open their doors to more than 100 ensembles and 100 artists. The main stages are the Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle; in addition, the major Hamburg churches (St. Michaelis, St. Petri, St. Jacobi, St. Katharinen), museums, and smaller halls will be used.

HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK

Under the series title "HANSE.BAROQUE.NETZWERK", the 2026 Bach Festival broadens its scope to include the Hanseatic cities: Lübeck, Bremen, and Lüneburg will simultaneously host performances of Johann Sebastian's Passions in their main churches. The festival utilizes the shared cultural heritage of the North German Hanseatic cities as a resonance space – a unique federal concept that no other Bach festival in Germany offers in this form.