OPENING 26 — International Festival for Contemporary Sound Art
International festival for contemporary sound art with concerts, workshops, and sound art exhibition at TuFa Trier
2026
About OPENING 26
OPENING 26 — edition 2026
The 26th edition in 2026 combines the festival tradition with Trier's World Heritage anniversary year. Several concerts will be deliberately moved to the Thermen am Viehmarkt — a Roman World Heritage site whose spacious halls offer exceptional acoustic conditions. The sound art exhibition runs for three weeks beyond the festival weekend.
Highlights OPENING 26 2026
Programme OPENING 26 2026
The exact program for 2026 will be published by the organizer in January. The structure follows the proven cornerstones of previous years:
- Friday, February 6, 2026, evening: Opening concert with "Der kleine Prinz" by Bernd Thewes. Opening of the sound art exhibition.
- Saturday, February 7, 2026: Workshops during the day, several concerts in the evening featuring German and international composers. Individual concerts at the Thermen am Viehmarkt.
- Sunday, February 8, 2026: Matinee concert and festival finale with concerts in the evening.
- February 6-28, 2026: Sound art exhibition at TuFa Trier.
- Workshops: Two workshops for musicians and those interested in sound art on Saturday.
Prices OPENING 26 2026
Practical information — OPENING 26
Venue: TuFa Trier, Wechselstraße 4-6, 54292 Trier. Individual concerts at the Thermen am Viehmarkt.
Tickets: Day passes and festival pass available via TuFa Trier.
Sound Art Exhibition: February 6 to February 28, 2026, open during TuFa's opening hours.
Getting there: Trier Main Station is a 15-minute walk to TuFa, 10 minutes to the Thermen am Viehmarkt.
Workshops: Registration required via TuFa.
OPENING was launched in 2001 in response to the lack of a public platform for contemporary sound art in the Trier region. Since then, the festival has developed into a nationally and internationally recognized event that brings together composers, performers, sound artists, and audio installations from Germany and abroad. Programmatically, OPENING connects New Music in the narrower sense (composition, ensemble, solo concerts) with sound art as a visual art discipline (sound installations, sound sculptures, sonified spaces).
The TuFa Trier — Kultur- und Werkstattfabrik, a former industrial building complex in Trier — offers ideal spatial conditions for experimental sound formats as the main venue. The relocation of individual concerts in 2026 to the Thermen am Viehmarkt, one of Trier's Roman World Heritage sites, programmatically ties into the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage site and enables sound experiences within an acoustically exceptional ancient structure.
The opening work for 2026 is "Der kleine Prinz" by Bernd Thewes — a contemporary setting of the famous Saint-Exupéry work for narrator and ensemble.
Where it takes place OPENING 26
OPENING 26 at a glance
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Published by Valentin Contard, festival listings writer. Reviewed, corrected and approved by Christophe Contard, editor-in-chief. .