Dear singing and listening participants at the 7th Louis Lewandowski Festival, welcome!
In 2011 we started the festival full of questions. Would interested participants be found? How will the Berlin audience react? Where should we find the money?
Today we have a long list of choirs hoping to participate in the future. We are happy about a loyal audience in Berlin and Potsdam, send tickets all over the world. So far, the project has been financed privately. The initial questions are answered
Artistically, we return to our origins in the seventh year: the first festival was dedicated to Louis Lewandowski’s work, while his contemporaries Salomon Sulzer (Vienna) and Samuel Naumbourg (Paris) were also the focus of the second festival. In 2013, Berlin celebrated the theme year of destroyed diversity.
We dedicated the festival to the synagogal music of Jewish composers from Germany who were persecuted or murdered in the Shoah. The fourth festival “Star and Stripes” was dedicated to Jewish composers of synagogue music who emigrated to the United States.
2015 became the festival year under the sign of the Eastern European choir Shul. Last year we experienced “Jewish Renaissance and Baroque in synagogal music”. After so many journeys through time and space, we “ground” the festival by returning home to Berlin and Louis Lewandowski. There is still much to discover here, join us!
sincerly yours
Nils Busch-Petersen | Festival Director
Dr. Gideon Joffe | Chairman of the Jewish Community of Berlin
I am delighted that - despite Corona-related restrictions - the Louis Lewandowski Festival is taking place in Berlin for the eleventh time. It has become a fine tradition and an integral part of our city's cultural calendar.
Dr. Gideon Joffe | Chairman of the Jewish Community of Berlin
Instead, I must take this opportunity to express my anger and sadness at the criminal and insidious terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 of this year.
Dr. Gideon Joffe | Vorsitzender der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin
It is largely thanks to the great reformer of synagogal music that the traditional Jewish prayer service took on a new form.
Franziska Giffey, Regierende Bürgermeisterin von Berlin,
Dear festival enthusiasts, dear visitors, this year three celebratory occasions come together for the Louis Lewandowski Festival: 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany, the crowning of the organ as "Instrument of the Year," and finally the 200th birthday of the namesake of this wonderful festival, the outstanding composer Louis Lewandowski.
Greeting Minister President Dr. Dietmar Woidke
Der Ministerpräsident von Brandenburg, Dr. Dietmar Woidke: Ganz in diesem Sinne wünsche ich Ihnen ein wunderbares Festival mit ergreifenden Konzerten und schönen gemeinsamen Stunden, wo auch immer Sie das Louis Lewandowski Festival verfolgen.
Greeting Minister President Dr. Dietmar Woidke
The Minister President of Brandenburg, Dr. Dietmar Woidke: "In this spirit, I wish you a wonderful festival with moving concerts and wonderful times together, wherever you are following the Louis Lewandowski Festival.
Grußwort des Regierenden Bürgermeisters von Berlin
Zum Louis-Lewandowski-Festival 2019 begrüße ich, als Regierender Bürgermeister von Berlin, alle Musikerinnen und Musiker sowie auch die Gäste sehr herzlich. Berlin ist nicht eben arm an hochkarätigen Musikfestivals. Unter ihnen nimmt das Louis Lewandowski Festival eine Sonderstellung ein.
Grusswort Ministerpräsident Dr. Dietmar Woidke
Der Ministerpräsident von Brandenburg, Dr. Dietmar Woidke: Als Schirmherr begrüße ich Sie sehr herzlich zum 9. Louis Lewandowski Festival, das wie jedes Jahr eindrucksvoll den Reichtum jüdischer Musik präsentiert...
Kai Wegner, Governing Mayor of Berlin,
The Louis Lewandowski Festival is a tribute to the rich musical culture that characterizes Europe. In our multifaceted city, we find the ideal setting to discover together the musical treasures that unite us.
Michael Müller | Regierender Bürgermeister von Berlin
I would like to welcome all musicians and guests to the 7th Louis Lewandowski Festival.