Jan. 19, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Dessau Jazz Nights #5 – Konstantin Kölmel | Main Hall/Restaurant

Jazz that touches the soul. Grooves that move you. Solos that inspire. Europe’s jazz talents united: With virtuosity and expressiveness, the Konstantin Kölmel Project brings a distinctive sound to the stage – from delicate saxophone solos to rousing reinterpretations of hits by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. The Konstantin Kölmel Project combines groove jazz, funk, and R&B into a powerful sound that evokes emotions while offering musical depth. With an ensemble of highly talented musicians from cities ranging from Baden-Baden to Munich, Zurich, and Amsterdam, the band brings together some of the most extraordinary talents in European jazz. Saxophonist Nikola Bankov, voted one of the “30 under 30” most promising artists in his home country by Forbes, plays with greats such as Randy Brecker and Billy Cobham. Kilian Sladek, former singer of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra, lends each composition a distinctive touch with his expressive vocals and sensitive lyrics. The band brings with them their new album, featuring guest star trombonist Nils Landgren.

January 22 & 23, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | 3rd Symphony Concert – Mozart, Mahler | Main Stage
Mozart and Mahler Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467 Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major: Compared to its symphonic sisters, Gustav Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, premiered in 1901, is a “small” work. It lasts less than an hour and dispenses with heavy brass. As in his Second and Third Symphonies, Mahler uses a text from Arnim Brentano’s collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn for the third and last time here. He originally planned the song Das himmlische Leben (The Heavenly Life) as the concluding seventh movement of his monumental Third Symphony. It ultimately became the starting point for the composition of the Fourth, which transports us, not without ambiguity, into an idyllic, serene, seemingly naive sphere. “It is the serenity of a higher world, foreign to us, that has something eerie and gruesome about it. In the last movement (…) the child,which, in its doll-like state, already belongs to this higher world, as everything is meant to be” (Mahler). The finale is this simple verse song, sung by a solo soprano – “like a fairy-tale sky painted by a child’s hand” (Eberhard Klemm). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467: The first part of the evening features one of Mozart’s most famous piano concertos, the C major Concerto, K. 467. The composer premiered it on March 10, 1785, at his own academy, where his father Leopold was also present. Leopold later wrote to his daughter Nannerl that he had been moved to tears by the beauty of the work and the applause it received. In addition to the undeniable
qualities of this music, the film industry also contributed greatly to the popularization of the work in the 20th century: the Andante of the second movement, with its wonderful magical sound, was used in both the 1967 Swedish feature film Elvira Madigan and a 1977 James Bond film.

January 23 & 24, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Raum für Klang 6 – musica magnetica | Bauhaus Museum Dessau
Electronic music of the 20th and 21st centuries

New music at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau. The history of electronic music is at least as old as that of the Bauhaus. The early electronic instruments still played today, the theremin, the ondes Martenot, and the trautonium, were developed between 1919 and 1930. Later, the Hammond organ and synthesizer followed; today, computers generate music. The evening highlights compositions by Paul Arma, who curated the musical work at the Bauhaus Dessau in 1931/32 and became a pioneer of new music in France after 1933.
Musicians from the Anhalt Philharmonic Orchestra, composer Yana Shliabanska, and lighting designer Guido Petzoldt take the audience on a multisensory journey and explore the many facets of electronic music. With the support of the IDEAMA Collection, ZKM I Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe In cooperation with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation