FREQUENZ Festival 2026

FREQUENZ is an annual festival dedicated to contemporary experimental music, performance, and audiovisual art. In addition to the evening main concerts featuring renowned ensembles from the fields of contemporary music and electronic music beyond pop culture, the festival also highlights smaller groups and installations presented at various locations and public spaces throughout the city during the festival. The festival aims to overcome the strict separation between artists and audience and bring both spheres together on different levels.

For six years now, the festival has been collaborating with leading composers, ensembles, sound artists, and festivals in the field of contemporary sound art, striving to explore ever-new European perspectives. Following an extensive and ongoing exchange with festivals and artists in Scandinavia, the focus is now particularly on the Eastern European scene. This was already an important part of the festival last year through the collaboration with Polish composers Marta Sniade and Alexandra Slysz and will continue this year with the presentation of numerous Polish composers by the Spółdzielnia Muzyczna ensemble. In addition, leading voices from the German scene will be featured, and numerous artists from Belgium and the Netherlands will be represented.

The festival will also offer free lectures and workshops/masterclasses, enabling local students and emerging musicians to connect with the artists and familiarize themselves with current developments in the scene. As part of this, there will also be close collaboration with faculty and students at the Muthesius University of Fine Arts in Kiel in 2026.

The FREQUENZ Festival 2026 is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
frequenz-kiel.de

Dates

May 8–11, 2026
Various locations, Kiel