Kurt Weill Festival 2026

The Sebastian Weber Dance Company thrilled audiences at the 2025 opening concert with an energetic performance of the piece 100 Leidenschaften (100 Passions). The company returns to the Kurt Weill Festival 2026 as artist-in-residence with several extraordinary programmes. Sebastian Weber himself will talk about the company, the pieces, the work behind them and his inspirations during the festival brunch.

In an intimate atmosphere, the well-known MDR Kultur presenter Ilka Hein, together with the guests, will get to know choreographer Sebastian Weber, our artist-in-residence this year, from a new perspective and perhaps even elicit a few anecdotes from him. Ilka Hein herself not only brings a journalistic perspective to the table, but has also been performing as a musical cabaret artist on the country’s cabaret stages for many years. A perfect conversation partner, in other words!

Chanson singer Anna Haentjens takes pupils from the city of Dessau-Roßlau on a musical, theatrical and dance journey of discovery through Kurt Weill’s memories.

Based on this year’s theme of the Kurt Weill Festival, a revue is created in a workshop lasting several days, combining texts, music, dance, acrobatics, theatrical performances and photo collages. Under the motto ‘My imagination is not a bird, but an aeroplane’, the revue focuses on developments in Kurt Weill’s childhood and youth.

The revue begins on Kurt Weill’s 50th birthday, which the composer, already very ill, spends in a small circle with Lotte Lenya, his friends Mab and Maxwell Anderson, and their daughter Hesper at his home in New City near New York. The developing conversation leads into Kurt Weill’s past and brings back memories.

With a view to the historical development of Dessau between 1900 and 1918, the participating students bring Kurt Weill’s childhood and youth to life through music and drama, following the traces of his early artistic career and the changes he went through.

The audience can expect an intense concert when jazz singer Christina Schamei and her band present some of the most poignant and socially critical songs from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Carefully curated from works by Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Friedrich Hollaender, Marlene Dietrich and Hildegard Knef, the result is a musically and lyrically stirring experience. Even back then, the lyrics touched on the sensitive issues of the time, addressing social injustices, political discord and interpersonal coldness. They still do so today, when Christina Schamei breathes new life into the pieces with her versatile voice and charismatic stage presence. She is accompanied by three first-class instrumentalists, Johanna Klein on saxophone, Florian Herzog on bass and Simon Seeberger on piano, who skilfully weave voice, lyrics and atmosphere into a unified whole with fine sensitivity and exceptional musicality.

A stirring play about two men, a shared journey and a question that still resonates today…

Martin Schulze and Max Eisenstein are not only successful art gallery owners in the USA, but also close friends. However, when Martin Schulze returns to Germany in 1932, their friendship becomes increasingly difficult.

Max Eisenstein is Jewish. While he initially reads about Martin’s scepticism towards the National Socialists in his letters, he soon realises that his German friend is increasingly losing himself in their ideology.

A former liberal becomes a staunch National Socialist, and with each letter, the distance between the two former friends grows. The story of these two men could hardly be more stirring, moving and relevant. How can a former friend drift so far into a misanthropic ideology, and how do you deal with it? It’s a question we must ask ourselves again today, and a play that leaves its audience deeply moved.

Atrin Madani, the talented jazz singer and charismatic performer, invites you on a journey of discovery through the world of music, peppered with anecdotes and humorous stories.

The young Berliner with Iranian roots has been a welcome guest on stages across Germany for several years now. Whether as a soloist with the Big Band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as a member of the Bundesjazzorchester or with his own incredibly diverse programmes, the young man’s warm voice and incredible range delight audiences wherever they hear it.

The diverse selection of pieces does the rest. From Milva to Hildegard Knef, from Charles Aznavour to David Bowie and many more, Atrin Madani interprets the songs in his own unique way. He is accompanied by Harry Ermer on the piano, whose energetic style of playing always ensures an enthusiastic audience on theatre and concert stages throughout Germany.

Life sometimes takes a different path than we imagine.

This was also true for Lyonel Feininger, who, inspired by his great role model Johann Sebastian Bach, once wanted to become a musician but then chose the path of a painter and Bauhaus master. Several works he composed during his time in Weimar still exist today, and Lutz Gerlach, together with Ulrike Mai, will bring them to the stage of the historic Bauhaus. A circle closes for Lyonel Feininger.

Stiller Tag am Meer (Quiet Day at the Sea) is a tribute to Lyonel Feininger that captures both the pictorial and the emotional music of Feininger and brings it to life. Together with Ulrike Mai, Lutz Gerlach links Feininger’s works with those of Bach, drawing parallels and highlighting differences, blending serious and popular music to create a unique experience. The music is combined with carefully selected works by Feininger to create artistic projections that accompany the scenic concert.