RheinVokal Festival – Concert Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine

RheinVokal — Vocal Music Festival on the Middle Rhine

The RheinVokal Festival was founded to make vocal music accessible in special venues along the Middle Rhine — in churches, palaces, castle halls, and monasteries. Over two and a half months, the festival spreads around two dozen concerts between Koblenz, Neuwied, Vallendar, Bendorf, and neighboring towns. Each concert evening uses a historical space as an integral part of the concert experience.

Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine Neuwied

The Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Neuwied is a Free Protestant Church with roots in the 15th-century Moravian Reformation and a distinct tradition of hymnody (Herrnhuter Losungen, connection to Bach). The Brüdergemeine Neuwied was established in the 18th century at the invitation of Count zu Wied and gives its own district a unique character with its rows of white houses. The hall of the Brüdergemeine offers an intimate, acoustically excellent, and atmospherically dense concert environment.

"Baroque meets Pop" — The Lamento Project

The Lamento Project is a specialized crossover ensemble that combines lament arias from the Italian early Baroque — Monteverdi, Carissimi, Strozzi — with pop ballads from the late 20th/early 21st centuries, such as those by Adele, Joni Mitchell, or Leonard Cohen. Soprano Dorota Szczepańska, theorbo player Alon Sariel, and double bassist Peter Schwebs realize this combination with historical instruments in a form that makes the lament accessible as a timeless musical vessel.

Concert Attendance and Atmosphere

The early concert start time (6 p.m.) allows the concert to be enjoyed as a long Sunday evening, with the option to stay in Neuwied afterward. The audience is interested in music, often with prior musical education, and appreciates the unusual programming.