40 years of music festival: star conductor Eschenbach inspires in Lübeck!

40 years of music festival: star conductor Eschenbach inspires in Lübeck!

Today, July 6, 2025, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival opens with its 40th edition. The ceremonial opening will take place in Lübeck and promises to be a romantic musical journey.

The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra will perform two important works for this occasion. Under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach, co-founder of the festival and principal conductor of the festival orchestra since 2004, the program includes Anton Bruckner's Seventh Symphony and Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor op. 64. Eschenbach, who has a special affinity for Bruckner's symphonies, will captivate listeners with the martial expression in the first movement and the sacred depth of the second movement, followed by the stirring, almost brutal energy of the third movement.

Artists and program information

The Australian-Taiwanese violinist Ray Chen is stepping in for the violin concerto because the pianist Khatia Buniatishvili, who was originally hired, is ill. Chen, considered one of the rising stars of the young generation of violinists and a winner of the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition, will accompany the orchestra as a soloist. The concert starts at 8:15 p.m. and will be broadcast live on 3sat and NDR Kultur, with a repeat planned for the next day.

The festival lasts until August 31, 2025 and includes a total of 203 concerts. This year, special attention will be paid to Istanbul, where more than 60 concerts will take place. The program also includes five “music festivals in the countryside” and two children’s music festivals, which take place in a total of 125 venues at 71 locations in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and parts of Denmark.

Financing and visitor numbers

The festival has a budget of around 14.5 million euros, with the state of Schleswig-Holstein supporting it with almost 1.2 million euros. In addition, the event is financed by sponsors, donations and grants. The number of visitors from the previous year proves the success of the festival: around 180,000 paying guests were recorded in 2024, which corresponds to an occupancy rate of 95%. For comparison: In 2019, before the corona pandemic, the number of visitors was 193,000 with an occupancy rate of 91%.

Overall, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival 2025 promises not only musical highlights, but also a first-class experience for all participants and visitors. [concerti.de].