Expect colorful mix during Elbphilharmonie Summer 2024

25 March 2024

International artists to perform all kinds of music from August 21 to September 4

Music lovers can look forward to orchestral, jazz, pop and world music during this year’s "Elbphilharmonie Sommer" underway from August 21 to September 4. Several highlights have been confirmed and will see conductors such as Ingo Metzmacher and renowned musicians like pianist Yefim Bronfman take to the stage.

Opening acts

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and rising star, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform works by Dvořák and Suk, conducted by Jakub Hrůša, to open the festivities. Hrůša has become a popular and regular visitor to the music city of Hamburg since his 2019 debut in the Elbphilharmonie.

Diverse concerts planned

Kenny Garrett, one of the most important and versatile U.S. saxophonists of his generation, rose to global fame as a member of the Miles Davis’ band in the 1980s. Garrett will debut at the Elbphilharmonie on August 24. A day earlier, flamenco legend José Fernández Torres, alias Tomatito, will whisk audiences off to Spain’s world of music. These acts will be followed later by German conductor Ingo Metzmacher, who has stressed the importance of musical diversity. "You sometimes need to go against the grain a bit in the music business." Metzmacher will conduct works by Beethoven, Shostakovich and Schönberg performed by the young Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester in a slightly rebellious manner on August 28 in the Grand Hall. Then, drummer, composer and producer Makaya McCraven will perform a fusion of funk, R'n'B, hip-hop and jazz on August 31.

Even more highlights

The Elbphilharmonie also plans to revive music history. To this end, U.S. singer Cat Power will reinterpret Bob Dylan’s 1966 concert in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall on August 24, 2024. The concert in Britain became famous as a live recording, but was mistakenly labelled “Royal Albert Hall”. The following month, Tinariwen aka the "Rolling Stones of the Sahara" will mix traditional music with blues, rock and soul during their special desert rock on September 1, 2024. Days later, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honeck, will present works by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky and Pucini on September 4. They will be joined by the brilliant U.S. pianist Yefim Bronfman for Rachmaninov’s "Concerto for Elephants".