Innsbruck Festival of Early Music

Since its founding in 1976, the Innsbruck Early Music Festival has garnered a distinguished international reputation for its ground-breaking work in reviving works from the Renaissance, Baroque and classical periods. The 48th Innsbruck Early Music Festival will take place from July 21 through August 30, 2024, with 56 events at more than 15 venues in and around Tirol’s capital. This year, the festival is under new leadership: Eva-Maria Sens will take over as artistic director and renowned Italian harpsichordist and conductor Ottavio Dantone will act as musical director. "Where do we come from, and where are we going?" is the guiding question posed by the Artistic Leadership to all considerations of their first joint program.

The focus for staged productions turns southward: Geminiano Giacomelli’s „Cesare in Egitto“, Barockoper:Jung „Arianna in Crete“ by Georg Friedrich Händel and Christoph Graupner’s „Dido, Queen of Carthage“. The Ambras Castle Concerts have been reorganized and will now take place on July 26 and 27, 2024 and on August 02 and 03, 2024. In addition to the established formats, there are also new formats to discover. A broad range of free events, some in public spaces, completes the extensive and colorful program.

For example, the meeting of international Youth Baroque orchestras, "youngbaroque", which was first held in Innsbruck in 2022, will be part of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music from 2024 onwards—this year held from July 17 to 21, 2024. Undisputed highlight will be the final concert at Treibhaus in Innsbruck under the direction of Lars Ulrik Mortensen on July 21, 2024, at 11:00am.

Moreover, the “Werkstattkonzerte” (Workshop Concerts) provide insight into Dantone's work with his orchestra (July 27 and August 03, 2024).

In “Hörgeschichten” (Listening Stories), the festival invites to discussions and exchanges about interpretation history and listening habits (August 11 and 18, 2024.)

The “Blaue Stunde” (Blue Hour) is a new series of concerts which invite to an amazing experience between day and night, taking place at 9:30pm at the Pavilion of Innsbruck Hofgarten Park. The first night concert presents Italian-Irish musician Giovanna Baviera with vocals and Viola da gamba play. (August 14, 2024).

Another new series in the Festival Weeks' agenda is called Ottavio plus. For 2024, musical director Ottavio Dantone has invited his longtime musical companion Alessandro Tampieri, the concert master of Accademia Bizantina and a soloist on the violin, viola, and viola d'amore, to join him in a collaborative duo performance. Together, they will present a program celebrating the virtuoso interplay between keyboards and strings, showcasing music from the early 17th to the 18th century (August 29, 2024).

Browse the 2024 Innsbruck Festival of Early Music Program.