IMPULS #20

With four new formats, the IMPULS #20 festival celebrates its anniversary edition.

In 2026, IMPULS will host its first-ever dual residency for conductor Natalia Salinas and composer Fernando Strasnoy. In September and October 2026, the two artists will work in Saxony-Anhalt as “IMPULS Composer and Conductor in Residence” with the Akademie der Staatskapelle Halle and the Magdeburg Philharmonic, and as guest lecturers at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design and the Werkleitz-Gesellschaft Halle. Fernando Strasnoy will receive a commission to compose a work for large orchestra. Natalia Salinas will conduct the piece at the concerts.

In addition, IMPULS is launching the initiative IMPULS x Talks in Concert, which will allow composers who have yet to gain recognition at renowned European festivals to present new works to a broad audience in Halle, Utrecht, and Siena.

An extraordinary concert format for IMPULS #20 will be the Kultur-Späti: a sound installation at the Reileck kiosk in Halle—and thus an installation in public space. The idea is to encourage random passersby to interact with the sound installation in the kiosk using hand-held pads, thereby sparking interest in new sounds among a completely different audience. Leipzig-based sound artist and object builder Erwin Stache is developing participatory technology and a new set of instruments for the installation.

IMPULS #20 is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
impulsfestival.de

Dates

Sound installation:
August 29 – September 10, 2026
Hr. Fleischer Art and Project Space Kiosk am Reileck, Halle

September 18, 2026
Kulturnhalle, Leipzig

October 8, 2026
Steintor, Halle

October 13–15, 2026
WUK Theater Quartier, Halle

November 19 & 20, 2026
Magdeburg Opera House