Review: Fête de la Musique 2026

On Sunday, June 21, 2026, the Bremen University of the Arts (HfK) once again celebrated Fête de la Musique, inviting the public to free concerts in and around its Dechanatstraße campus amid glorious summer weather. Despite the large-scale HOEG CitySommerFest 2026 event taking place simultaneously in downtown Bremen, the open house at the Department of Music was a complete success. 

The brass ensemble kicked things off on the balcony. A camera crew from Radio Bremen was there to film the Fête de la Musique and the 10th German-Polish Festival for Young Musicians, which was held as part of the event to mark the 50th anniversary of the town twinning between Bremen and Gdańsk. The organ and double bass regularly invited the audience to short concerts high up in the organ tower, offering them a rare opportunity to experience this very special location on Dechanatstraße live. 

With over 40 concerts and program items spread over eight hours, the university offered a diverse glimpse behind the scenes of its music programs and campus life. The HfK showcased its interdisciplinary profile through, among other things, a concert performance of Cornelius Cardew’s graphic score “Treatise.” Visitors were also able to get hands-on experience at the ImBIK workshop, where they could try their hand at live coding and visuals on an iPad. 

Among the highlights of the day were the concert of the German-Polish Festival for Young Musicians and the winners’ concert for this year’s University Music Prize. The latter was performed by the soprano Rebecca Bottari (Early Music / Bettina Pahn’s class), accompanied on the harpsichord by Nora Brandenburg (Historical Keyboard Instruments, Prof. Bernhard Klapprott’s class), who were jointly awarded second place in the 2026 University Prize.

The video by buten un binnen, produced for the German-Polish Festival and the Fête de la Musique, also offers a wonderful glimpse into the musical diversity of the university. 

“The duo of Rebecca Bottari, soprano, and Nora Brandenburg, harpsichord, thoroughly impressed us with their expressive interpretations of their multifaceted and thoughtfully curated program of music by early Baroque Italian female composers. Rebecca’s singing is moving; her velvety timbre captivated everyone. Nora was an equal partner to her with her sensitive continuo playing.”