Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik

Wittener Tage — Germany's most important festival for new chamber music

Since 1969, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik has been Germany's most important festival for contemporary chamber music and is one of the most renowned platforms for new music in Europe. With its concept — three days of concentrated world premieres, German premieres, and concert formats featuring the world's best contemporary ensembles — it holds a central position in the international program for new music. In 2026, the 58th edition runs from Friday, April 24th to Sunday, April 26th, 2026.

Motto 2026 — The Present is Unavoidable

The festival motto The Present is Unavoidable reflects the aim of the 2026 edition: how political tensions and current realities influence contemporary composition and blur the traditional line between autonomous and politically engaged music. Central themes of the commissioned works: the instability of identity when encountering otherness — whether through electronic responses, artificial intelligence, or foreign cultural elements.

14 World Premieres, 7 German Premieres, 20 Countries

The 2026 program is exceptionally dense:

• 14 World Premieres — all performed for the first time worldwide in 2026
• 7 German Premieres
• Composers from around 20 countries — international profile
• 13+ individual concerts over three days
• A mix of concerts, Discussion Concerts (concerts with a discussion format), workshops, and participatory music forms during the day

Portrait Composer 2026 — Chaya Czernowin

The focus of the 2026 edition is the Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin, one of the most significant voices in contemporary music. She is described as one of today's most perceptive musical chroniclers. The 2026 festival program presents Czernowin's recent works as well as a new music theater piece, which she is directing herself — an exceptional tribute to one of the leading composers of our time.

Ensembles 2026 — The Elite of Contemporary Music

The program is shaped by some of the world's leading ensembles for new music:

• Basel Sinfonietta — Swiss symphony orchestra for contemporary music
• WDR Sinfonieorchester — the resident orchestra of WDR Cologne, one of Germany's most important ensembles for classical and modern music
• Klangforum Wien — Austrian ensemble, globally recognized for performing the latest music
• Quatuor Diotima — French string quartet with a high level of interpretation of contemporary works

Saalbau Witten and other venues

The main venue is the historic Saalbau Witten, a concert and event hall in Witten's city center. Additionally, other venues in the city are used for intimate concerts, Discussion Concerts, and workshops — a concept that integrates the festival into the entire urban context.

Witten and WDR — A Festival Symbiosis

The Wittener Tage is a cooperation between the City of Witten and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). WDR broadcasts numerous concerts live or time-delayed on radio (WDR 3) and television, making the festival accessible to an international audience. Through this festival, Witten (approx. 96,000 inhabitants, a district town in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis) has secured a unique position in the German music landscape — no other medium-sized city is as significant for contemporary music.