NOW! 2026: Transcendence

The program of the NOW! 2026 festival seeks to capture the broad spectrum of musical engagement with our present: new orchestral, ensemble, and chamber music, as well as electronic music. Under the overarching festival theme Transcendence, the focus is on works that embody a strong sense of spirituality and transcendence.

At the heart of the program is composer Mark Andre with his cycle rwh. This four-part cycle is one of the major and central works in Mark Andre’s oeuvre. It is a work on the threshold of vanishing, of transcendence, and an expression of the composer’s deep religiosity. “, ,rwh .. (pronounced “ruach”) is an Aramaic word that opens up a very broad field of meaning: it refers to breath, air, scent, and wind, but also to spirit—and, at least since Martin Luther’s translation, to the Holy Spirit” (Mark Andre). The audience experiences this breathing, resonant space in four movements conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, whose musical and spiritual intensity is unique. “These are the spaces that pass very quickly, but which perhaps unfold the highest level of intensity,” says Mark Andre.

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation supports the NOW! 2026 festival with a focus on Mark Andre’s work cycle rwh.

Further information:
theater-essen.de

Dates

October 24 – November 7, 2026
Various locations, Essen