On the occasion of the 'Schlosserlebnistag', the Ludwigsburger Festival will deal with the topic of women. Kaan Bulak – composer, pianist and producer – who is presenting his commissioned composition »Transtemporal« this season will report on the composer Kassia for this occasion. Her hymns are the oldest documents that have come down to us from a female composer and also find their way into Bulak’s new composition.

The varied programme of this year’s Festival features a remarkable overlap: Gustav Mahler’s »Urlicht« – performed in the song recital »Anna Lucia Richter« as well as in the concert »Liebes Traum Gestalten«. Full of anticipation for the pre-recorded choral project with Yuval Weinberg and the SWR Vokalensemble, we would like to take a closer look at the Lied.

With a revival of the »Pixelsinfonie« and the ARTE event »Europa feiert Beethoven« the Ludwigsburg Festival starts the month of June with a Beethoven Weekend. On World Environment Day the video installation by Michael Rauter based on the »Pastorale« reminds us of the relationship between humans and nature in 32 individual films. In the performance of all symphonies from nine European countries, the channel ARTE will take up Beethoven’s message of international understanding on Sunday.

With a short film and a detailed discussion with the artists, the Ludwigsburg Festival will prepare the audience for the production of »The Day WTC«, which will be performed live in 2022. This will not only provide an insight into the work, but also into the personalities of the actors.

In the spirit of a »Festival of the Arts, Democracy and Sustainability« and also in the spirit of Joseph Beuys' proclamation »Everyone is an artist«, all Ludwigsburg residents were invited to join in. In this special year of distance, cohesion and the 100th anniversary of Beuys' birth, the Ludwigsburg Festival and Brad Hwang jointly recalled the transformative power of social sculpture.

Idolized by musicians, misused in dictatorships, re-adapted as the European anthem – Beethoven’s 9th symphony mirrors the society and shows the dimensions of human behaviour. We want to take a closer look at the work, which played a major role in the 2021 season, and its politicised performance history.

Mahler’s “Song of the Earth” gave new meaning to the poetry of Hans Bethge. Likewise, the photographs of J Henry Fair also open up a new dimension. With “Das Lied von der Erde for the 21st Century “ the photographer and environmental activist makes a clear statement: The earth is in danger!

For almost 40 years, Jean-Georges Noverre's birthday on 29 April has been the occasion for the International Dance Day, which celebrates dance in all its forms and its unifying power. Newly appointed ambassadors from all over the world stand for its global and transnational significance. Now we do not have to think far geographically, because in 2021 the Stuttgart ballet dancer Friedemann Vogel will be the ambassador. Dance is universal, dance is important - also at the Ludwigsburg Festival.

Although culture can also provide comfort in lockdown's dark times, there is little evidence of this in Germany at present. But art is education, there is humanity in art, for some people art is perhaps even a substitute religion. Particularly in times when Western democracies are in crisis, when many people have lost confidence, have become fact-resistant, or are conducting discussions with aggression instead of arguments, it can point to a better way.

The starting point of the Pixelsinfonie is Beethoven's 6th symphony - the »Pastorale«, to which the composer Michael Rauter has set against a composition of his own. The piece was originally planned as music theater for 30 hotel rooms in the Ludwigsburg NH. Since the Corona reality had overtaken his original idea, he had to start from scratch in terms of content.