klub katarakt – Festival for Experimental Music
20th Festival for Experimental Music at Kampnagel
About klub katarakt
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Twenty Years of Experimental Music in Winterhude
Since 2006, klub katarakt has been the annual meeting point for Hamburg's and the international scene for new, experimental, electroacoustic, and improvised music. The venue is the former machine factory Kampnagel on Jarrestraße – an industrial monument that has served as a stage for the independent scene since the 80s. Three of the large Kampnagel halls are used simultaneously, and the audience moves between them, deciding for themselves which sound space is currently compelling.
Wandering Concerts and Long Night
The central performance format is the Wandelkonzerte (wandering concerts): short pieces, simultaneously in several rooms, easily explorable. Alternating with scheduled solo evenings, retrospectives of individual composers, and the Lange Nacht (Long Night) on Saturday, where premieres, world premieres, and audiovisual works are shown until late. klub katarakt is small in format but consistent in its programming – here you hear pieces that would not be performed in a concert hall.
International Networking
Despite its manageable size, klub katarakt is internationally networked: with the Canadian Quatuor Bozzini, the American composer Sarah Davachi, the Berlin-based composer Alexander Schubert, and guests from Uganda (Afrorack), the 2026 program ranges from string quartet avant-garde to modular synthesis and African polyrhythms. Ticket prices are deliberately kept low; many events are included in a festival pass.
klub katarakt — edition 2026
Anniversary Edition – Six Festival Days
For its 20th anniversary, klub katarakt is exceptionally expanding to six festival days (January 13–18) and five concert evenings in 2026. The programming follows the usual logic: wandering concerts in three simultaneously used halls, interspersed with solo evenings and a Long Night on Saturday.
Composer in Residence: Sarah Davachi
American-Canadian composer Sarah Davachi is the Composer in Residence for 2026. She will give lectures, present older works, and perform several concerts centered around her work, which explores the boundary between classical and drone traditions through sustained tones, microtonal intervals, and subtle layering.
Programme klub katarakt 2026
Tue, Jan 13 – Opening
- Wandelkonzert (Wandering Concert) in three Kampnagel halls
- Quatuor Bozzini (Canada) – String Quartet Avant-garde
- Bunte Luft Trio (Hamburg)
- Trobar e Cantar (Hamburg)
- META Ensemble (Darmstadt/Cologne) – Collective Composition
Wed, Jan 14 – Fri, Jan 16
- Retrospectives and solo evenings with Sarah Davachi (Composer in Residence)
- Homage to Morton Feldman on his 100th birthday
- Afrorack (Brian Bamanya) from Uganda – Modular synthesis with African polyrhythms
Sat, Jan 17 – Long Night
- German premiere of Alexander Schubert's "Eternal Dawn" – Immersive music theatre about transhumanism
- Premieres from the local Hamburg scene
- Audiovisual works and experimental short films
Sun, Jan 18 – Closing
- Retrospective of Sarah Davachi and ensemble formats
- Festival closing round
Highlights klub katarakt 2026
Prices klub katarakt 2026
Practical information — klub katarakt
Getting There
Subway line U3 Saarlandstraße or bus lines 172/173 to Jarrestraße. Kampnagel is within walking distance of Stadtpark and Goldbekhaus.
Tickets
Via the Kampnagel ticketing system. Festival passes and day tickets available.
Address
Kampnagel, Jarrestraße 20, 22303 Hamburg-Winterhude.
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Travel to this festival
Reserva tu tren o autobús para llegar a klub katarakt al mejor precio.
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Where it takes place klub katarakt
Kampnagel
Jarrestraße 20, 22303 Hamburg