World Music

Look forward to a musical feast! The ensemble around violinist Ilona Cudek and accordion virtuoso Enrique Ugarte serves up spicy czardas, hot jazz, bittersweet tango and creamy classical hits, spiced up with a touch of Christmas just in time for the second Advent. Special guest soprano Roxana Lucia Mihai enriches the evening.

Ilona Cudek (violin), Enrique Ugarte (accordion), Manfred Manhart (piano), Bernhard Seidel (double bass), Roxana Lucia Mihai (soprano)

Foto: konzert.name

Jermaine Landsberger is a musical citizen of the world and is now one of the style-defining pianists on the European gypsy scene thanks to his break from tradition. The Upper Palatinate native with Sinti roots spices up his powerful yet melodic piano playing with elements of gypsy music and has already toured across Europe with it. For his concert, he has brought along the crème de la crème of German jazz musicians: the bassist Joel Locher, who is in demand throughout Europe, and the renowned Munich drummer Guido May. Tony Lakatos, who was a soloist and member of the HR Big Band for 30 years, joins them as a special guest. With virtuosity and melancholy, they present sensitive original compositions, exquisite classics, but also swinging gypsy jazz melodies in a modern guise.

Jermaine Landsberger (piano), Tony Lakatos (saxophone), Joel Locher (double bass), Guido May (drums)

Foto: Mathieu Wilson / Tony Lakatos

August Zirner and Sven Faller tell entertaining stories of leaving and arriving with humor and depth, based on the love stories of their grandmothers. Zirner tells how, as a young American, he fled the Vietnam War to Austria, the country from which his parents had fled. The young Faller, on the other hand, was drawn to America. His grandmother’s Jewish fiancé had returned from there 30 years ago to keep his marriage vows. An exciting musical dialog between flute and double bass continues the stories in a lively manner. Zirner and Faller playfully revive not only jazz classics such as “Summertime” and “Take Five”, but also Bach’s “Bourreé”.

Foto: Xenia Trampusch

Whispering, speaking, shouting, dancing or in silence. In its new program, the Moritz Weiß Klezmer Trio tells of the stories that the “wind” carries with it. They speak through klezmer, a musical genre that has provided the trio with inspiration, motivation and direction for years. “Wind” is dedicated to the concert tours of recent years: a yodeling Tyrolean in Patagonia, an emotional tango concert in Buenos Aires, the sweltering heat in Senegal, a filling Koshari dinner in Cairo or a few too many schnapps in Serbia. There were quite a few adventures along the way! But because there is not only wonderful music in the big wide world, but also in the trio’s home country, the three gentlemen from Styria have invited a special guest: Simon Reithofer on gypsy guitar.

Moritz Weiß (clarinet), Niki Waltersdorfer (guitar), Maximilian Kreuzer (double bass), Simon Reithofer (gypsy guitar)

Foto: Reithofer Media

Sophie Wegener (vocals), Vlado Grizelj (guitar), George Makhoshvili (bass)

The German-French singer Sophie Wegener has dedicated herself entirely to bossa nova, the music that was ‘invented’ in Brazil in the late 1950s. After releasing three albums with her band Zona Sul (“Pure love – Um amor tão puro”, “Beira” and “Tem mais samba”) and performing in jazz clubs around the world, she is breaking new ground with her trio and opting for an even more intimate sound. She enchants the audience with great emotions and serenely relaxed to bittersweet compositions by Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso or Baden-Powell.

Sophie Wegener will be accompanied by jazz guitarist Vlado Grizelj and double bassist George Makhoshvili, both of whom are established names on the European jazz and music scene. Vlado and George are not only first-class accompanists – it is a special experience to experience their interplay, which is characterized by deep musicality. And even if Sophie Wegener takes center stage as the singer, there is always enough room for her virtuoso accompanists to inspire with numerous solos.

Foto: Lena Semmelroggen

100 years of Hildegard Knef

Together with top-class musicians, Berlin singer and violinist Meta Hüper presents songs by the great Hildegard Knef, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday in 2025. She will be accompanied by the Berlin pianist and arranger Markus Syperek. Meta interprets the songs about Berlin and life in her very own, inimitable way. With her dark timbre, she lends them a special charm while preserving the profundity of the lyrics and respect for the original. With violin or singing saw, she always manages to surprise the audience and skillfully infuses the music with a touch of today’s Berlin air. A very personal homage to the wonderful Hilde Knef and a must for all Hilde and Meta lovers.

Meta Hüper (vocals, violin), Markus Syperek (piano)

Foto: Tilmann Jaeger

Beauty of sound, sensuality and virtuosity on the Spanish guitar

Tranquillity, reflection and the rapid drifting of clouds inspired the Dinkelsbühl guitarist Philipp Schiepek to create his program “Meadows and Mirrors”. In a space-consuming composition process, solo and trio pieces were created, which are interpreted on the classical nylon-string guitar. Together with the established artists Henning Sieverts and Bastian Jütte, the result is an exciting concert evening full of joyful playing. Philipp Schiepek has already performed with his ensembles at Jazzfest Berlin, Jazztage Leipzig, the Berlin Philharmonie, Sunset Paris and the Europe Sound Festival in Ankara. His concerts have been broadcast on Deutschlandfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk and other stations.

Philipp Schiepek (nylon string guitar), Henning Sieverts (bass), Bastian Jütte (drums)

Foto: Gregor Kipping

The Marion & Sobo Band creates its own modern style of global music and vocal jazz. They prove that handmade, acoustic music can not only be delicate, contemplative and colorful, but also highly energetic and powerful, even without drums. The German-French-Polish ensemble led by multilingual singer Marion Lenfant-Preus and guitarist Alexander “Sobo” Sobocinski presents a new album, “Gomera”. It is dedicated to the scenically and culturally diverse Canary Island of the same name, where the two have spent many winters and collected many song ideas. Stylistically colorful with gypsy jazz, rumba, Balkan and chanson sounds, linguistically diverse with songs that invite you to dance and dream. The band sings and plays with charm, humor and ease for a cross-cultural and cross-generational audience.

Marion Lenfant-Preus (vocals), Alexander Sobocinski (guitar), Jonas Vogelsang (guitar), Frank Brempel (violin), David Andres (double bass)

Note: This is a make-up date for a concert that was originally scheduled for November 28, 2024. Purchased tickets are still valid.

Foto: Alessandro De Matteis