Inspiration: Beethoven

'Inspiration Music' – that is the title of the current special exhibition at the Beethoven-Haus Museum. It showcases a selection of contemporary artworks inspired by Beethoven's compositions. 'Beethoven as a source of inspiration – this also applies to our new programme of events,' says Malte Boecker, Director of the Beethoven-Haus. The programme for the 2025–26 season offers a wide variety of concerts, exhibitions and events, inviting visitors to be inspired by Beethoven and classical music. Numerous images of contemporary artworks from the special exhibition have been used in the programme's design. The Beethoven-Haus's programme is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Bonn and the Hermann J. Abs Foundation.

Beethoven is also a source of inspiration for the Artist in Residence for the 2025–26 season, the young Austrian pianist Aaron Pilsan. He is convinced that music possesses a positive, transformative power. Speaking about his connection to Beethoven, he says:'For me, Beethoven has always been more than just a composer – his music is an expression of strength, freedom and inner conviction. Especially in times like these, I feel how much his music reminds us to stand for something.' Pilsan will introduce himself to the Bonn audience with three concert projects: as a soloist with an all-Beethoven programme (10 October 2025), in a duo recital with cellist Alexey Stadler to mark the anniversary of Beethoven's death (26 March 2026, in collaboration with the 'Bürger für Beethoven' association) and a trio evening entitled 'Fairy Tales and Legends' with oboist Juri Valentin and Sindy Mohamed on the viola (17 April 2026).

As part of the 'Special Beethoven Days' series, the programme features the second concert in the 'Beethoven27' series – marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death in 2027 – conducted by Jan Caeyers and Kit Armstrong, with soloists from the orchestra 'Le Concert Olympique'(21 February 2026). Details of the plans for the Beethoven-Haus's traditional Christmas Day concert on 17 December 2025 will be announced at a later date. The chamber concert series promises further highlights: three outstanding string ensembles – the Belcea Quartet (25 November 2025), the Quatuor Hermès (14 March 2026) and the Vision String Quartet (23 May 2026) – will be performing. The trio evening also boasts a top-class line-up, featuring the acclaimed violinist Midori, cellist Antoine Lederlin and pianist Jonathan Bliss, who will perform a programme consisting entirely of Schubert (28 January 2026). The Norwegian violinist Ragnhild Hemsing brings a completely different flavour to the programme, performing Norwegian folk music alongside classical works (28 February 2026).

The piano recitals will feature, amongst others, the renowned duo Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen (16 November), the rising star Kevin Chen from Canada (19 April 2026) and the grande dame of Bach interpreters, Angela Hewitt (7 May 2026). The Lieder Recitals series attracts audiences with renowned vocal stars such as the countertenor Valer Sabadus (8 November), the baritone André Schuen (26 April 2026) and Katharina Konradi, soprano (19 June 2026). The ‘Young Stars’ series offers the opportunity, across seven concerts, to discover young, up-and-coming artists who are at the start of promising careers.

The screen concerts organised by the Beethoven-Haus in collaboration with the Förderverein Filmkultur Bonn e.V. have long been a tradition. This time, the programme features the silent film classic *Die Bergkatze* by Ernst Lubitsch from 1921 (30 November) as well as light-hearted slapstick comedies for children and families (8 March 2026) – each accompanied by live music. The aspekte jazz series will feature two exceptionally creative jazz pianists: Olga Reznichenko (solo) and Anke Helfrich (with her trio) (30 October and 13 December 2025). The Pablo Held Trio is also returning as guests after a long absence, this time alongside the American saxophonist Chris Potter (20 February 2026). The brilliant drummer Jonas Burgwinkel will be performing again shortly afterwards with Sebastian Sternal on piano and the trumpeter Airelle Besson (23 April 2026). The ‘Aspekte’ concerts will once again be recorded by Deutschlandfunk. The ‘Außerordentlich’ series will once again take a different approach: the focus here will be on, amongst others, the composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1 November 2025) and the sisters Lili and Nadja Boulanger (15 January 2026). And finally, members of the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble invite you to a serenade amongst friends (22 January 2026).

In addition, there will be another edition of the BTHVN WEEK this spring, under the artistic direction of Daniel Hope, President of the Beethoven-Haus. The chamber music festival will take place from 14 to 16 May 2026. Details will be announced at a later date.

The Beethoven-Haus offers three subscription packages: the Chamber Music Subscription (6 concerts), the Piano Subscription (5 concerts) and the Young Stars Subscription (7 concerts). Subscriptions can only be ordered in writing and must be received by 19 September 2025 at: Beethoven-Haus Shop, Tickets, Bonngasse 18, 53111 Bonn; tickets@beethoven.de. Orders will be processed upon receipt.

Advance ticket sales open on 30 July. Members of the Beethoven-Haus Association and the Circle of Friends and Patrons can reserve tickets in advance. Tickets are available during the general advance booking period at the Beethoven-Haus Shop, Bonngasse 21, 53111 Bonn, via the online shop at https://shop.beethoven.de/de/s/shop-start or at www.beethoven.de, at all Eventim booking offices throughout Germany, and via the website www.eventim.de.

The full programme for the Beethoven-Haus for 2025/26 is available at https://www.beethoven.de/de/saison_25_26. A printed copy of the programme can also be sent on request.

Photos of the artists can be downloaded from their websites.

Contact:
Ursula Timmer-Fontani
Head of Corporate Communications
timmer-fontani@beethoven.de; Tel. +49 228 98175-16