Old music, new rhythms and inspiring surprises

Last updated on 17.01.2018

Between mountain and valley, at the vibrant interface between urban space and alpine lifestyle, Tyrol’s state capital captivates its visitors with its lively art and culture scene. Innsbruck‘s Cultural Summer will also be offering an exciting programme in 2018, making the diversity of cultural activities in the heart of the Alps clear and tangible.

ART Innsbruck

25 – 28 January 2018

Innsbruck’s Year of Culture 2018 starts at the end of January. With the name ART Innsbruck, the 22nd International Art Fair is being held in the Messehalle A from 25 to 28 January. Ninety galleries and art dealers from ten countries will be exhibiting international contemporary art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Paintings, works on paper, editions, original prints, sculptures, objects/installations, artist books, photographs, new media and other delightful items – collectors and art lovers will love the renowned ART Innsbruck fair, but it will also appeal to all those keen to develop their interest in collecting. www.art-innsbruck.at

30th Easter Festival Tyrol

16 March – 1 April 2018

In its anniversary year the multi-faceted festival, valued far beyond the provincial borders, will be combining, in its customary varied manner, a wide range of music: old and new, world-famous and avant-garde, regional and international. The demanding programme spans the spectrum from orchestral to dance performances, and organ concerts to vocal ensembles. In various venues in Innsbruck and Hall in Tirol, the artists comment on their vision of human existence in a variety of approaches and forms of expression under the guiding principle “über.leben” (about.life). A special highlight will be the St John Passion which the Collegium Vocale Gent, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, a pioneer of early music, will be performing on Good Friday (30 March) at the Congress Innsbruck. www.osterfestival.at

Musik im Riesen (Music in the Giant)

24 – 27 May 2018

“Music in the Giant” will be celebrating its 15th anniversary from 24 to 27 May 2018, bringing together and exploring some key programmatic themes. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds’ Chamber Music Festival, led by the Tyrolean composer and pianist Thomas Larcher, will be honouring Philip Glass, one of the most influential contemporary composers who will also be performing as a pianist. So the “Tyrol Concerto” which, amongst other things, provided the musical accompaniment for the still effective promotional film “Land in the Mountains”, will be performed in Tyrol for the second time since 2000. Renaissance and Baroque vocal music as well as classical works for string quartet and quintet are on the programme in five further concerts. www.kristallwelten.com/musik

 Klassik am Berg (Classics on the Mountain)

30 June 2018

InnStrumenti, the Tyrol Chamber Orchestra, is setting its sights high at the end of June. At an altitude of 1965 metres, the dedicated musicians will be taking Innsbruck’s cultural scene up into the mountains. Under the direction of Gerhard Sammer, the ensemble will be playing a varied programme on a specially installed, temporary stage on the Patscherkofel, Innsbruck’s home mountain. With sophisticated orchestration and performed to their legendary very high standards, this extraordinary concert will appeal equally to connoisseurs and newcomers to classical music and, thanks to the unique combination of the enjoyment of culture and nature, will showcase Innsbruck as major city in the Alps. www.innstrumenti.at

Innsbruck Proms

2 – 29 July 2018

The impressive backdrop of the Hofburg (Imperial Palace) will become a stage again in July 2018. With its unique architectural beauty and special acoustic qualities, one might think the former Habsburg residence was purpose made for the perfect enjoyment of music. Under the artistic direction of Alois Schöpf, the residents of Innsbruck and visitors to the city will be able to enjoy free access to outstanding music. First-class ensembles from all over Europe will be playing at the imperial residence over four weeks. www.promenadenkonzerte.at

New Orleans Festival

5 – 22 July 2018

It’s time to get grooving again. The whole of Innsbruck will be swinging at the 20th New Orleans Festival and the heart of the Alps will be beating to particularly lively rhythms. The festival opens on 5 July with a themed evening in Casino Innsbruck. On 11 July New Orleans will be the guest in ORF’s Studio 3. Two days later, during the Long Night of Music, the bars in the city centre will be rocking. On 15 July the Patscherkofel invites you to enjoy the blues and the next day it’s off to the legendary location of the “Bierstindl”. Finally, from 19 to 22 July, an authentic New Orleans feeling with a festival atmosphere will be the hot ticket at the Landhausplatz. www.neworleansfestival.at

Wetterleuchten Festival

14 – 15 July 2018

The mountains in sight, the beat in your heart. Hardly any other event showcases the young, urban Innsbruck as well as the Wetterleuchten Festival. For two days, the finest electronic music is played against the breathtaking backdrop of the Seegrube. DJs and turntable artists delight their audience with their sets at over 2,000 metres above sea level. The dress code at the Wetterleuchten Festival is unconventional and at the same time typical of Innsbruck. Because where else do you dance in mountain boots and hiking trousers? www.wetterleuchten.at

Innsbruck Festival of Early Music 2018: Bewegte Welten (Eventful Worlds)

17 July – 27 August 2018

A unique soundscape of timeless beauty is created when old scores discover new life, the works of almost forgotten masters continue to resonate today, and a musical arc stretches over the centuries. In summer 2018, with the motto “Eventful Worlds”, Alessandro De Marchi, director of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, will once again be taking us on an extraordinary journey. The 42nd edition of the first-class Festival of Early Music will be placing the instrument maker Jacob Stainer, who was born in Absam/Tyrol around 1618, at the centre of a series of concerts, and maestro Jürgen Flimm will be staging Mercadante’s “Didone”. De Marchi sums up the festival’s unique position perfectly: “The Innsbruck Festival 2018 combines music, styles and sounds from five centuries. Our only constant is to perform the music in sound and structure based on our historical information and using instruments matching the originals used at that time”. www.altemusik.at

Tiroler Volksschauspiele Telfs

21 July – 31 August 2018

Telfs has been hosting the drama festival “Tiroler Volksschauspiele” since 1982, performingcontemporary popular theatre in extraordinary venues ranging from workshop to old barn to the circus tent in which “The Brandner Kaspar and the Eternal Life” was performed last year. People can’t wait to find out what programme chairman Markus Völlenklee will be presenting over a number of weeks this summer. www.volksschauspiele.at

Alternative art and independent scene

Innsbruck enjoys an excellent reputation not only for “classical” art and culture, its alternative scene has no need to fear international comparison. Stages such as the Kellertheater, the Westbahntheater or the Freies Theater Innsbruck enhance the summer schedule with productions ranging from light-hearted to challenging. The Treibhaus, p.m.k. and the Bäckerei.Kulturbackstube are just some of the venues that reflect a vibrant spectrum of alternative, contemporary culture with exhibitions, concerts and workshops. www.pmk.or.at, www.treibhaus.at, www.diebaeckerei.at

Stams Abbey – new museum in historic walls

Stams Abbey is situated in the village of the same name some 40 km west of Innsbruck. Founded in 1273, the Cistercian Order and its basilica are, even today, impressive places of monastic life and, at the same time, one of the most important educational institutions in Tyrol. The recently opened museum enables interested visitors to gain a real insight into eight centuries of everyday monastic life. The highlights include precious sacral treasures and curiosities such as an astronomical table from 1425 and the almost completely preserved monastery pharmacy. But Stams Abbey is also one of the most important venues in the Upper Inn valley for music lovers. Extraordinary concerts are frequently performed in the Bernardisaal, its impressive architecture also providing a very special acoustic. For example, as part of the OBERTÖNE Chamber Music Days, which will take place from 12 to 16 September 2018. www.stiftstams.at

Tiroler Landesmuseen

The Tyrolean State Museums are always worth a visit. In 2018 the renowned Tyrolean institution which incorporates the Volkskunstmuseum (Regional Heritage Museum), Ferdinandeum and Zeughaus (Arsenal) will once again be demonstrating its outstanding cultural role in the Alps. Curator Helene Perana and her team have developed a compact, multi-layered programme with socio-political references. The “Art 1938 – 1945” exhibition casts light, for example, on the years of Nazi rule from the point of view of the visual arts. The “Forum Migration” is seen as a meeting place of art and everyday life, offering the chance to join in discussions and workshops in January and February. Other highlights include eight special exhibitions dedicated, for example, to Lucas Cranach as a painter of nature, and the 2018 UCI Road World Championship. The Bike Show is being held from 4 May and, with the title “Frischluft? Freiheit! Fahrrad” (Fresh air? Freedom! Bicycle), will highlight, among other things, the technical, cultural and historical aspects of biking. www.tiroler-landesmuseen.at