When Graz is once again transformed into a resounding festival of music in summer 2026, this festival will have a dazzling title: Light Games. For its 42nd edition, the Styrian Festival STYRIARTE is dedicating the program entirely to the elementary material of life, "light" - as a bearer of hope, an aesthetic impulse, a philosophical motif and, last but not least, as a source of shared joie de vivre. In challenging times, the festival deliberately focuses on a cheerful mood that bathes everyday life in a brighter spectrum of colors for a month.

Artistic Director Mathis Huber opens the Styriarte on June 26 in the splendidly illuminated Palais Attems - a prelude that can be understood programmatically as an "illumination". Musical miniatures span the entire festival, which is more diverse than ever before with 65 performances from 32 projects. And once again, the secret protagonist plays a central role: the city of Graz itself, whose architecture and atmosphere blossom anew in numerous concert formats.
The key works on the program include Mozart's Magic Flute, Haydn's Creation and Mahler's Second Symphony. Three compositions that tell the story of the victory of light over darkness in very different tonal languages. While Mozart's opera will be performed as a picnic concert in a harmoniemusik version on June 28, Patrick Hahn will perform The Creation in the Helmut List Halle on July 7 and 8. The legendary Mozart Requiem will shine in the Stainz church concert on July 11 and 12. Mahler's monumental "Resurrection Symphony", which Mei-Ann Chen will perform on 16 and 17 July together with the Styriarte Youth Orchestra and several choirs from Graz, is the centerpiece of the festival.

Picnic concert with Zefiro on the picnic meadow in Eggenberg © Tom Lamm

"Through darkness to light" - Beethoven's central theme is the second major thread running through the festival. It shapes Bernd Glemser's piano recital with Liszt's arrangement of the Fifth and the Moonlight Sonata as well as the exquisite choral programs. On June 27, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir will dedicate itself to Ligeti's floating Lux aeterna, while Voces8 will illuminate four centuries of great vocal moments on June 29. Other program highlights take up historical and personal metaphors of light: from the Jewish "Light of Freedom" in the Styrian Klezmore Orchestra to Robert Stolz's exile songs and Kristina Miller's homage to Oscar Peterson.
The Styriarte also plays with the light moods of an entire day - from the musical sunrise on the Schöckl (July 26) to the romantic night with Brigitte Minichmayr (July 10). Vivaldi, Piazzolla, Haydn and Mendelssohn shine in their own concert formats; dances, poetry and chamber music highlights complete the panorama.

Rebbetzin Lea Kalisch Photo: David Zimand

With "Sun God - Sun King", the festival is also dedicated to the mythical and historical dimensions of light: from the Aztec Huitzilopochtli in the music theater Xochiyaoyotl (July 2/3) to the glamorous tributes to Louis XIV by François Lazarevitch (July 13) and Jordi Savall, who will provide the radiant finale on July 26 with Charpentier's Te Deum.
Young audiences will also be treated to brilliant moments on stage: Mozart's Pa-Pa-Papageno in a version suitable for children (July 1-3) and the picture book theater Vom kleinen Maulwurf (July 11-12). Hollywood soundtracks, silent film music, organ tours, Beatles tributes, baroque walking concerts and literary light shows expand the spectrum - a festival that lives up to its motto in every nuance.
June 26 to July 26, 2026
www.styriarte.com