Schloss Bensberg Concerts — Music and Culture Festival BGL

Music and Culture Festival Bergisch Gladbach 2026 — Concerts at Schloss Bensberg

The Music and Culture Festival Bergisch Gladbach e.V. is one of the most important classical music initiatives in the Bergisch Gladbach district. The artistic director is the Russian-German pianist Roman Salyutov, who curates the series as a high-calibre concert platform between Cologne and the Bergisches Land region. The venue for many concerts is the magnificent ballroom of the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg — one of the most beautiful baroque pleasure palaces in the Rhineland.

Program Early 2026 — Three Concerts

January 4, 2026, 11 AM — "German Romanticism on the Way to Hollywood"

Schloss Bensberg, Ballroom. Piano quintets by two composers whose life paths exemplify the cultural migration of the 20th century:

• Robert Schumann — Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44 (1842) — a highlight of Romanticism
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold — Piano Quintet in E major, Op. 15 (1922) — the late-Romantic Viennese composer who became a defining film composer in Hollywood from 1934 onwards

Soloists: Members of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Pianist: Roman Salyutov.

January 27, 2026, 7 PM — "Unknown Names in Music History"

Albertus Magnus Gymnasium Bensberg. On the international Holocaust Remembrance Day, the festival dedicates an evening to two persecuted Jewish composers:

• Martin Friedland (1881–1958) — composer and pianist, emigrated during the Nazi era
• Günter Raphael (1903–1960) — classified as half-Jewish, banned from practicing his profession during the Nazi era

Admission free. An initiative in cooperation with the VHS Bergisch Gladbach.

April 6, 2026 (Easter Monday), 11 AM — "On European Musical Paths"

Schloss Bensberg, Ballroom. An Easter matinee with members of the Bergisch Gladbach Symphony Orchestra. Works by European composers:

• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Antonín Dvořák
• Camille Saint-Saëns

Conductor and piano: Roman Salyutov.

Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg — The Unique Setting

The Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg is one of the most spectacular baroque pleasure palaces on the Rhine. Built between 1703 and 1710 by Elector Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate as a hunting lodge, it served as an electoral residence in the 18th century. After a long period of use as a military building and cadet school, it was converted into a luxury hotel of the Althoff Collection from 1997 to 2000. Today, it houses 120 rooms and suites, the 3-star restaurant Vendôme, and the magnificent ballroom — an ideal acoustic and visual stage for classical chamber music. Concerts can often be combined with a champagne reception or a 3-course meal.

Roman Salyutov — The Artistic Director

Roman Salyutov (born 1981) is a pianist, conductor, and festival organizer. Born in St. Petersburg, he has lived in Cologne and Bergisch Gladbach for years. He directs the Bergisch Gladbach Symphony Orchestra and the Music and Culture Festival, is a regular guest at festivals in Germany and Israel, and has released several CDs. His focus is on the music of the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the rediscovery of Jewish composers.

Bergisch Gladbach Symphony Orchestra

The Bergisch Gladbach Symphony Orchestra is the most important classical ensemble in the Bergisch Gladbach district — a semi-professional orchestra with professional musicians as section leaders and ambitious amateurs in its ranks. It performs several concerts per season in Bergisch Gladbach, Bensberg, Refrath, and the surrounding area and cooperates closely with the Music and Culture Festival.

Bergisch Gladbach — Gateway to the Bergisches Land

The town of Bergisch Gladbach, with around 113,000 inhabitants, is located east of Cologne and is the largest town in the Bergisch Gladbach district. Bensberg is one of its prominent districts, situated on the heights, dominated by the castle and the old castle (today the Bergisches Museum). The combination of baroque architecture, forests, and proximity to Cologne makes Bensberg one of the most attractive locations for culture and tourism in the Bergisches Land.