Focal Points
A thematic guide through the multifaceted abundance of festival events
The Month of Contemporary Music is a collaborative project: it is the ensembles, festivals and artists who shape the programme of the umbrella festival with their own events. As a result, there is a variety of themes and forms of music-making and composing that run through the programme as common threads.
The Voice – Instrument of the Year
Every year, the regional music councils select an Instrument of the Year. In 2025, the choice fell on the "oldest instrument in the world": the voice. The jury's reasoning: "It can whisper, speak, sing and so much more." In contemporary music, the voice has grown light years beyond the role of a melodious text medium ascribed to it in the classical canon for centuries – as demonstrated by the voice artists from maulwerker on 13 and 14 September at "ICH & ICH & ICH [WIR])" at Ballhaus Ost and improviser Ligia Liberatoria on 1 October in the TOPO concert series at Zwitschermaschine. In her performative music theatre "Voice Lab – Post Internet Dance Edition", Frauke Aulbert explores the relevance of individual voices between the digital data stream and analogue everyday life (20 and 21 September, Acker Stadt Palast). From 9 to 12 October, the Potsdam festival DESIGNING VOICES will focus on the voice as an instrument in concerts, workshops and on an infoday, and the duo Simolka–Wohlhauser will bring "Neue Gesänge aus Europa (New Songs from Europe)" to the Schwartzsche Villa on 21 September.
Music and Environment
Contemporary music is not only contemporary because it is created in the present day, but also because it deals with current issues. It is therefore not surprising that this Month of Contemporary Music features projects that deal with the relationship between sound and ecology in different ways: "Fauna–X" combines fairy tales, music, dance and visual art to reflect on nature and climate change (12 September, UMSPANNWERK Reinickendorf). Inspired by poisonous gardens, forests and wintry landscapes, the Contemporary Insights Ensemble explores the environment through contemporary music in "Der Ruf der Natur (The Call of Nature)" (16 September, BKA-Theater). In their collaborative sound installation "Neukölln. Oliwa. Sonic Portrait.", Marcin Dymiter and Bea Targosz explore how local environments can be experienced artistically through listening and observation (18 to 20 September, Errant Sound / Miss Read). "Aus dem Maschinenraum (From the Engine Room)" (21 Sept., Hošek Contemporary) is a multimedia concert installation by Ulrike Ruf, Heidrun Schramm, Florian Bergmann and Nicolas Wiese, which was developed from intensive research and the examination of the sound characteristics of the combustion engine.
Bodies of Work
There are composers who have been present in Berlin concert halls for many years with their unmistakable sound languages and have thus had a significant influence on the city's music scene. During the Month of Contemporary Music, several ensembles are dedicating concerts to some of these composers. On 13 September, ensemble unitedberlin will perform works by the Georg Katzer and some of his master students. On 19 September, the Dell–Lillinger–Westergaard trio celebrate their 15th anniversary at the Musikbrauerei with their own compositions. On 24 September, the Pierre Boulez Saal will host the JACK Quartet with string quartets by the pioneer of acoustic noise music Helmut Lachenmann, which will enter into a dialogue with current compositions by Mads Emil Dreyer and Clara Iannotta.
Music in Interplay With the Arts
The transitions between music, image, space and movement are once more flowing through this Month of Contemporary Music: "Somehow We Can" (26 September, Schinkel Pavillon and 12 October, Ebensperger / Fichtebunker) is a concert series with the Soloist Ensemble Kaleidoskop that rethinks the string quartet and in which works by international composers enter into a dialogue with the respective exhibitions at Berlin art venues. "Cluster #40" (8 Ocotber, KM28) combines a concert by Berlin–based sound artist Felicity Mangan with an experimental film screening. The Barefaced Body Ensemble combines improvised intuitive music and dance to create a physical and sensual performance (11 October, Club der Polnischen Versager). No. 258 of the Improvised & Experimental series first presents vocal performances by Heather Green, Mamiko Kan and Mary Molnar and after, Félicie Bazelaire (double bass), Michiyasu Furutani (Butoh dance) and Norbert R. Stammberger (saxophone, graphics) bring together music, movement and visual elements (1 October, Hošek Contemporary).
Stories in Music
Be it in musical theatre, at a reading or in a multimedia format: music can tell stories and bring narratives to life. As it does in the immersive fairy tale "Fauna–X", which Ensemble Menajiri brings to UMSPANNWERK Reinickendorf with sound, visuals and dance (12 and 13 September). The musical reading of the novel "Unendlich ist die Nacht (Endless Is the Night)" brings its author Pedro Kadivar together with improvisers Katia Guedes (voice) and Susanne Stelzenbach (piano) and takes the audience into the stories of two refugees (21 September, exploratorium berlin). In "THE WATS", Stepha Schweiger translates motifs from Katherine Mansfield's novel "The Woman at the Store" – like the role of women, interpersonal relationships and the relationship to nature – into an interdisciplinary piece of music theatre, with Anke Retzlaff and the ensemble LUX:NM, among others (2 to 5 September, Ballhaus Ost). In the performance "Day 1 – A Birth in Sound", flutist Mira Tulenova tells of her memories and encounters, of origin and of what comes afterwards (4 October., Kühlhaus Berlin).
Transtraditional Music
Questions of tonality and tuning are central to all musical traditions. How instruments are tuned determines what music can be played and which instruments can play together in the first place. In "Transtraditional Encounter IV: Microtonality", the Trickster Orchestra and guests explore the possibilities that the microtonal realm can open up for transtraditional practices (5 October, AdK Hanseatenweg). "Sintonia" is part of the Festival for Artistic Exchange and Community Attunement and brings artists from different contexts into a sonic exchange: Felipe Salmon and Agua Dulce will play at the Galiläakirche on 9 October.
Instruments in Focus
New playing techniques, extensions using objects or electronic means: musicians are always eliciting undreamt–of possibilities from their instruments with a passion for research and seemingly limitless inventiveness. You can create your own tour of Berlin's church organs with "Gorgonge – Church Organ Meets Electronics" (13 September, Kirche Zur frohen Botschaft) and the fifth AGGREGATE FESTIVAL for automated pipe organs (12 to 14 September, various locations). An organ that can be played together is part of the Sonar System, an expansive instrument developed by the Portuguese collective Sonoscopia for the Splitter Orchestra concert on 11 October in the Kleiner Wasserspeicher. An installation of 20 snare drums by Mikołaj Rytowski will be performed at Hošek Contemporary on 14 and 15 September. In Enno Poppe's piece "Rundfunk" for nine synthesizers, ensemble mosaik will dedicate itself to a retro–futuristic classic among instruments (21 September, Konzerthaus Berlin), and Elo Masing spins the dimensions of the piano further into space with her "Wool Piano" (9.10., Spektral–Raumohr).
Extraordinary Spaces
Some events during the Month of Contemporary Music place the space at the centre: they open up new locations, explore the tonal characteristics of a space or present site–specific works in which the performance venue itself becomes part of the artistic expression. In alternating cemetery chapels, the Friday Evening Improvisation at Cemetery Chapels series brings improvisation to life in unusual spaces. On 26 September, Ufuk Elik (bağlama), Ulrike Ruf (cello) and Zeynep Ayse Hatipoglu (cello) will play at Sophien II Cemetery. With sound recordings from Berlin–Neukölln and Oliwa in Gdańsk, Poland, a sound installation by Marcin Dymiter and Bea Targosz encourages reflection on locality and its significance in a global context (18 to 20 September, Errant Sound / Miss Read). For the third concert in its Site Specific Concert Series, the Splitter Orchester invites the Portuguese sound art collective Sonoscopia to the Kleiner Wasserspeicher (11 October).
I & Us – Music Between the Collective and the Individual
Solo or ensemble? Composer or performer? Musicians who have dedicated themselves to contemporary music often combine several roles. The relationship between the collective and the individual is therefore constantly being renegotiated on stage, providing a direct link between music and social issues. Under the motto "ICH & ICH & ICH [WIR]", the vocal ensemble maulwerker will perform six simultaneous solos written by Pauline Oliveros for the members in 2007 (13 and 14 September, Ballhaus Ost). Every night from 16 to 18 September, the Berlin Solo Impro festival will see five musicians improvise first solo and then in an ad hoc ensemble, exploring the relationship between musician and audience in the intimate setting of the Acker Stadt Palast. In the chamber opera "A Brief History of Scars." the Ensemble Fincan and guests improvise on family dynamics (20 September, Fincan Neukölln). In the new concert series "4, 3, 2, 1 – Countdown to responsibilty", the composer collective Atonale counts down the line–up from quartet to solo and poses the question of individual and global responsibility (6 September, Künstlerhof Alt–Lietzow, 4 October, Pinellodrom, 18 October, bauhaus reuse).
Improvisation & Echtzeitmusik
What began 25 years ago with a small circle of musicians has since grown into a large, constantly self–redefining scene: "Echtzeitmusik (real–time music)", a genre between free jazz, new music, pop and noise, has long become a Berlin trademark. In the Improvised & Experimental series at Hošek Contemporary, Miriam Leo, Berenice Llorens, Gustavo Obligado, Julia Biłat and many more will perform during the festival period. Another highlight: 25 years of Labor Sonor, the now oldest and legendary Echtzeitmusik concert series (27 September, Ballhaus Ost). At exploratorium berlin will play TAU – Bertoncini / Sheridan / Wassermann (28 September) and on the last day of this year’s Month of Contemporary Music Kaja Draksler and Eve Risser, followed by Frelonia, a trio with Fred Frith, Lotte Anker and Núria Andorrà (12 October).
Chamber Music
On Tuesday nights there is chamber music. The concert series Unerhörte Musik established this law in 1989 and it still applies today. Just one indication that this traditional genre with its many varieties has made its way into contemporary music. Performers at the BKA-Theater on the festival Tuesdays include pianist Fidan Aghayeva–Edler (23 September), Alexina Hawkins and Jacob Greenberg with current compositions for viola and piano (30 September) and the Zöllner–Roche Duo in the unusual combination of clarinet and accordion (7 October). The Cluster concert series juxtaposes composed music with a duo from ensemble mosaik and the improvisation duo Kimura + Latimer on 24 September at Sowieso. Violinist and violist Michael Barenboim brings string music with electronics to the Pierre Boulez Saal on 2 October. For Max Murray's large–scale composition "Schaufeln | Brayen – Rain", the brass ensemble Apparat will come together with Ensemble Adapter, vocalists Olivia Stahn and Elīna Viluma–Helling and other guests to form a super ensemble on 5 October at Kirche St. Elisabeth. And if you want to end the evening with a smaller, more intimate format, you can listen to Ensemble Zafraan in Dock 11 with a selection of their favourite pieces later that day.
From the Next Generation
The universities and concert halls in Berlin not only offer a wide and varied range of training programmes for young creative talent. They also provide them with the opportunity to take their first steps on stage – and give the audience a glimpse into the musical future. In the KlangKunstBühne series, students from the Institute for New Music KLANGZEITORT will present the results of a workshop with the performance collective She She Pop (27 September) and a workshop about works by choreographer Pina Bausch (4 October, both in the UdK building on Bundesallee). In the Pierre Boulez Saal on 30 September, students from the Barenboim–Said Academy will perform works at the intersection of entertainment and politics by Hanns Eisler, Arnold Schönberg, Kurt Schwertsik and Kurt Weill together with HK Gruber (voice) and Kirill Gerstein (piano).
Get Involved!
Many formats of the Month of Contemporary Music not only invite you to listen, but also to join in and reflect. At the "Festival für selbstgebaute Musik (Festival for Self–Built Music)", unknown sound spaces can be discovered and played in – tricky or simple, electronic or analogue, to listen to, to touch and to build yourself (14 September, Holzmarkt and Säälchen). "Kantine Musik" is an open format for making music together and getting together organised by silent green (21 September). The course "Introduction to Electronic Music – from Stockhausen to Techno" offers a practical introduction to the diversity of electronic music and uses selected examples to show how techniques such as sampling or ring modulation overlap and differ in avant–garde and pop culture (11 October, VHS Pankow). As part of the Listening Biennial the experimental format "Cacophony Stories" deals with listening to cacophonies and dealing with disturbed ecologies (1 to 4 October, daadgalerie). Every day, invited guests will tell a story that stimulates conversations and listening practices. With contributions from Ebru Yetiskin, Masimba Hwati, Okkyung Lee, Dror Feiler and Brandon LaBelle, among others.
For Children and Young People
The guided children's concert "Schrumpf!" at exploratorium berlin on 28 September invites you to make discoveries together: Three musicians with violin, flute and voice improvise without notes, just with ideas. The concert playfully explores how sound can create connections and how music can be created without a fixed plan. "Die drei Rätsel (The Three Riddles)" by Detlev Glanert is an imaginative opera for children and young people that tells the story of two children who assert themselves against the adult world in a mixture of fairy tale, adventure and social drama – brought to the stage by professionals and young performers in a joint production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (from 11 October).
