The Zwischentöne Chamber Music Festival in Engelberg has established itself since 2015 in this Central Swiss spa resort with its thoughtfully curated programs and captivating performances, attracting a growing audience each year. The upcoming festival is dedicated to the theme «Signs, Games, Messages.»

Zwischentöne 2026 is a tribute to the great Hungarian composer György Kurtág, who turns 100 this year. He named his cycles—written for solo instruments or small chamber ensembles— «Signs, Games, and Messages.» These short pieces are, among other things, diary entries and messages to the musicians and friends who are important to Kurtág.

We drew inspiration from these ideas in designing the program. At the Zwischentöne Festival, five works and two Bach arrangements by Kurtág will be performed, along with compositions by other Hungarian composers: Bartók, Kodály, Ligeti, and Veress. In the late-night program, Hungarian folk musicians will delight us.

Among Kurtág’s «messages» is an Hommage to Robert Schumann, and indeed, Schumann is an additional focus of this year’s program. Works to be performed include, among others, the Nachtstücke, Op. 23, and the Kinderszenen for piano, the Piano Quartet, and two piano trios. The program also features additional chamber music works with a message: Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 135, Mozart’s String Quintet K. 593 and the Kegelstatt Trio, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, Haydn’s Gypsy Trio, Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, and Holliger’s Romancendres. One of Switzerland’s leading composers, David Philip Hefti, will write a new string quartet for the festival: The Broken Column, inspired by a painting by Frida Kahlo.

We are once again delighted to welcome an impressive list of renowned guests to Engelberg, led by the well-known German pianist Alexander Lonquich, who, alongside his performances with major orchestras, is also a passionate chamber musician. The outstanding violist Yura Lee returns this year, as does the young Spanish pianist Pau Fernández Benlloch. They are joined by the phenomenal Portuguese principal clarinetist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and ARD Prize winner Carlos Ferreira, and the Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko, winner of the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition. Once again, we are offering two young musicians the opportunity to participate in the festival, the cellist Emilie Richter from Lucerne, and Chinese Pianist Victor Yuanhan Lu.

The Saturday matinée will take place in the Baroque Hall of the monastery, while the other nine concerts will be held in the Kursaal Engelberg.