stARTfestival Bayer 2026 — Venue Basilica Knechtsteden

Bach Mass in B Minor in Basilica Knechtsteden — Concert of the Year

When the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis take their positions in the Romanesque Basilica Knechtsteden on May 15, 2026, at 8 PM, one of the most significant concert evenings of the Bayer stARTfestival 2026 will commence. The program features the Mass in B Minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach — his last major vocal work, completed in 1748/49, and after World War II, the most frequently performed large-scale Bach work.

The stARTfestival 2026 — Bayer Cultural Program in the Rhineland

Since 2007, the stARTfestival has been Bayer Kultur's spring festival, bringing together around 30 events between April and June at six venues in the Rhineland — from Leverkusen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, to Dormagen and the Bergisches Land. The spectrum ranges from classical, jazz, indie, and pop to dance, theater, and multimedia formats. The subtitle for the 2026 edition is "Between Classical, Club, and Continents". At Bayer Kultur in Leverkusen, each concert is given a curatorial framework; the festival sees itself as a platform for crossover artists and top-tier chamber music projects.

Venue Basilica Knechtsteden — 12th-Century Romanesque Architecture

The Basilica Knechtsteden is part of the former Premonstratensian monastery Knechtsteden, founded around 1138 and operated since 1895 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans). The three-nave Romanesque pillar basilica is one of the most important sacred buildings in the Rhineland — featuring a famous Romanesque Christ Pantocrator fresco in the apse and outstanding acoustics, which have been utilized for the Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden concerts for decades. The collaboration between Bayer Kultur and this traditional festival is one of the hallmarks of the stARTfestival 2026 programming.

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Vox Luminis — The Performers

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Founded in 1987, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is one of the world's leading original instrument ensembles for music of the 17th and 18th centuries. It performs without a permanent chief conductor in varying configurations and has received numerous Diapasons d'Or, Gramophone Awards, and Echo Klassik awards. Its home base is the Konzerthaus Freiburg.

Vox Luminis

The Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis was founded in Namur in 2004 by French bass singer Lionel Meunier. It specializes in European vocal polyphony from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries and won the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award in 2012. Vox Luminis sings with one voice per part, thus developing a chamber-music-like clear, transparent sound — perfectly suited for the monumental yet detailed Mass in B Minor.

The Mass in B Minor — Bach's Legacy

Bach worked on the Mass in B Minor for several decades, completing it shortly before his death. The Mass consists of 18 choral movements and nine arias, with highlights such as the double-choir Sanctus, the majestic Gloria, and the moving Crucifixus. Bach never wrote the work for a single liturgical performance; he conceived it as the summation of his vocal output, a legacy for posterity. Today, it is considered one of the greatest works in Western music history.

Dormagen — Between Cologne and Neuss on the Rhine

The city of Dormagen is located in the Neuss district between Cologne and Neuss, directly on the western bank of the Rhine. Economically shaped by the Bayer site (Chempark Dormagen, the largest chemical site in North Rhine-Westphalia), culturally it is primarily known for the Knechtsteden Monastery with its basilica and concert festival. Getting to Knechtsteden via the A 57 (Dormagen exit) or Dormagen train station + bus 866.