New Year's Concert Technik Museum Speyer — Museum Wilhelmsbau

New Year's Concert with a Special Setting

The New Year's Concert in the Wilhelmsbau Museum is a chamber music event with a special atmosphere. The concert hall of the Wilhelmsbau is a historic space directly connected to the museum's extensive collections of historical musical instruments. The combination of contemporary concert performance and music history collection gives the format a unique selling point.

Jean Martyn — Britain’s Got Talent

The headliner of the 2026 New Year's Concert is British musician Jean Martyn. She became known to a wide audience through her performances on “Britain’s Got Talent” — especially for her virtuosic piano and organ playing and her charismatic stage presence. In the Speyer concert, she will perform on a historic Bechstein grand piano from the museum's collection.

Bechstein Grand Piano with History

The Bechstein grand piano in the Wilhelmsbau Museum is a historic instrument from the renowned Berlin piano factory Carl Bechstein — a manufacturer of the highest piano quality, which has equipped concert stages worldwide with its instruments since the 19th century. The Speyer example is one of the museum's sounding exhibits.

Sound Artist Sina Hildebrand-Arnold

Jean Martyn will be accompanied by sound artist Sina Hildebrand-Arnold. She will complement the concert with sound art elements and create transitions between the classical piano pieces and the sonic explorations of the historical museum instruments.

Connection Music — Technology — History

The concept of the New Year's Concert is programmatic: it combines musical performance with the technology and music history that the museum documents. The historic organs and keyboard instruments of the Wilhelmsbau Museum are not only displayed as silent exhibits but are also integrated into the concert context — a demonstration that music history can remain alive.