When the Whitsun bells ring in Regensburg, the UNESCO World Heritage city becomes the echo chamber of a musical journey through time: For four days, works from almost six centuries will be heard in churches, monasteries and halls - from the Middle Ages to the Romantic period. The Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, one of the most renowned festivals for historical performance practice, will celebrate its 41st edition from May 22 to 25, 2026 - proving once again that early music is not a thing of the past, but a living cultural heritage.

As every year, the festival opens with a musical greeting from its own city: the Regensburger Domspatzen under Christian Heiß perform the traditional opening concert in the Dreieinigkeitskirche. Together with Musica Florea Prague, they will perform a brilliant range of music from Carl Maria von Weber to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - romantic sonorities in dialog with historical instrumentation. On the very first evening, the festival opens up to the unusual: the French ensemble Irini confronts Renaissance polyphony with Georgian Orthodox chants in the Dominican Church - an encounter between the Occident and the Orient, of tonal clarity and spiritual depth.

The Regensburger Domspatzen © Michael Vogl

Saturday shows how diverse "early music" can sound. The Gonzaga Band performs Antonio Freddi's Marian Vespers, a rarely heard masterpiece from the Venetian early Baroque period. Under the motto "Bach's World of Keyboard Instruments", international harpsichordists explore Johann Sebastian Bach's European references in a four-part concert series - from French tonal language to Italian elegance. Outstanding performers such as Pierre Gallon, Justin Taylor and Loris Barrucand & Clément Geoffroy open a resounding window into the Thomaskantor's workshop.
Sacred splendor fills the Basilica of St. Emmeram when L'Escadron Volant de la Reine sheds new light on the music of Alessandro Scarlatti. The evening then belongs to a musical search for clues: Alexander Grychtolik and Il Gardellino reconstruct a lost Passion oratorio by Bach - a venture that combines musicological precision with artistic courage. And in the night concert, sound and art history merge: under the title "Paradisi Porte", Oltremontano Antwerp and the Tiburtina Ensemble interpret Hans Memling's famous "Angel Concerto" in sound - music as a heavenly panel painting.

Oltremontano Antwerp and the Tiburtina Ensemble © Tage Alter Musik Regensburg

On Sunday, the baroque world shows its cheerful side. In the Reichssaal of the Old Town Hall, the charmingly graceful and heartily witty songs of Marc-Antoine Charpentier will be performed by Les Épopées and the vocal elite of France. Later, the young Portuguese orchestra Bonne Corde spans an arc of sound between Lisbon and Rome with newly discovered concerti grossi by António Pereira da Costa. And in the evening, the Verità Baroque Ensemble brings baroque temperament to the stage: "Solo contro tutti" - musical competition as pure energy.
The night then belongs to the English composer William Lawes, whose bold sound experiments are brought to life by the ensemble Près de votre oreille in the Schottenkirche - an excursion into the fascinating early days of English sensibility.

Finally, Whit Monday opens up new perspectives: The Comet Musicke ensemble presents the rediscovered works of South American composer Francisca Apomayta, whose baroque musical language unfolds between Europe and the Andes. Medieval heroic epics, rare symphonies by forgotten masters and a glittering finale with the top British ensemble Stile Antico complete a festival that brings music history to life in all its facets.
The program is accompanied by a large international exhibition of instruments in the historic Salzstadel and a musicological symposium on Hans Memling's "Engelskonzert". Art, research and passion come together to create a resounding celebration of cultural history - right in the heart of Europe, in a city that has known for centuries how music transforms spaces.
May 22 to 25, 2026
www.tagealtermusik-regensburg.de