Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Festival Visitors and Music Enthusiasts!
It is my great pleasure to invite you to the 40th anniversary edition of the wonderful festival dedicated to the recorder and its music, held in the enchanting venues of Bad Kissingen. What a privilege it is to accompany and lead this unique festival featuring concerts, workshops, an exhibition, an Intrada, and many special highlights – and to celebrate with you, our esteemed audience, the music, the recorder, and our 40th anniversary in 2025. In these times, such an occasion will do us good, and I am very much looking forward to welcoming you, our beloved audience, as well as the artists, our recorder community, the exhibitors, the educators, the dedicated organizing team, and all the companions of the festival – our great Recorder Festival family.
Welcome!
Traditionally, the festival begins on Ascension Day: We will greet our guests on May 29, 2025, and look forward to experiencing the magnificent venues of the Regentenbau and the Erlöserkirche in the Franconian UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bad Kissingen with you over four days. These unique gems allow us to enjoy events ranging from intimate recitals to chamber music concerts and the large-scale music exhibition in their entirety, while also discovering new listening experiences.
The opening event, the Intrada, traditionally takes place on Thursday – your chance to join the Bad Kissingen Recorder Orchestra and make music together with like-minded individuals. For our anniversary edition, the ensemble will be coached by several instructors, performing numerous Renaissance works, culminating in a world premiere specially composed for the festival, to be performed in the Erlöserkirche.
I am not exaggerating when I promise you the best acoustic conditions for our festival. The Rossini Hall allows us to experience music in exceptional detail, while in the Erlöserkirche, music becomes a sensual experience of the highest order. The Recorder Fair and Music Exhibition will be held in the Max-Littmann Hall, and by spreading the exhibits across additional salons, the instrument trials will be more focused and quieter. There will also be opportunities to retreat to a separate room to test an instrument in peace or to engage in conversations with fellow enthusiasts.
On Sunday morning, the Festival Church Service will take place in the Erlöserkirche.
This year, we have once again decided to present our traditional Recorder Festival Days true to our motto, “Early Music in a New Light,” while expanding the program with exciting new formats. My personal credo is clearly reflected in the program: to showcase the diversity of our beloved instrument, the recorder, in all its inspiring facets. It is about enjoying, learning, marveling, and being inspired by the bouquet of impressions. No other instrument offers such complexity – from its tonal and structural differences to its versatile playstyles and extensive repertoire. The recorder impresses like no other instrument, and our 2025 anniversary edition will sound as diverse and interdisciplinary as ever.
The world-renowned recorder ensemble The Royal Wind Music will transport us to the golden age of polyphony with a musical portrait of Albrecht Dürer. The grande dame Michala Petri will delight us with a colorful birthday program featuring romantic and modern sounds, performing alongside her longtime duo partner, guitarist Lars Hannibal. The young Ensemble Feuervogel will play, sing, and dance to Metamorphoses of Power in The Queen’s Masque – a combination of late 16th-century English Renaissance music and contemporary dance. Jeremias Schwarzer invites us to the chancel for Of Heaven and Earth, featuring works by van Eyck, Hildegard von Bingen, and Liza Lim, celebrating the profound essence of recorder music. With A Lover’s Tale, the young award-winning Ensemble Interchange celebrates love in all its facets, taking the audience on a musical journey through the emotional worlds of Bach, Palestrina, Monteverdi, and Shakespeare.
The young recorder player and composer Wen-Cheng Wei will showcase his dual talents in Late Night 1, presenting fascinating works inspired by fish, light, and water. The Belgian ensemble Musica Gloria, featuring Nele Vertommen and Beniamino Paganini, will travel with their musician friends to Bad Kissingen to present a program of instrumental music for recorder, traverso, oboe, harpsichord, and string instruments by Telemann, Bach, and Janitsch.
I look forward to seeing you in May,
Warm regards,
Yours, Maurice Steger