Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
dear Festival guests and music lovers
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the 41st edition of the Blockflute Festival in the enchanting surroundings of Bad Kissingen — and at the same time a great honour to be able to accompany and direct this unique festival with its concerts, educational events, extensive exhibition and many special highlights.
In 2026, we would like to celebrate music, the blockflute and our sense of community together with you. Our heartfelt thanks go not only to our highly valued audience, but also to the artists, the members of our international blockflute community, the exhibitors, the teachers, the dedicated organising team and all friends and supporters of the festival — our large family of the Blockflute Festival.
By tradition, the festival begins on Ascension Day. From 14 May 2026, we invite you to spend four days experiencing the splendid rooms of the Regentenbau and the Church of the Redeemer in the Franconian World Heritage town of Bad Kissingen. These exceptional venues make it possible to enjoy concerts ranging from intimate recitals to large chamber music formats and at the same time provide the ideal setting for our music exhibition and personal exchange.
The Rossini Hall allows musical encounters of the finest tonal nuance, while the Church of the Redeemer turns music into a sensual experience of exceptional intensity. The exhibition will take place mainly in the Max Littmann Hall; additional salons are available for trying out the instruments. This creates a concentrated yet open atmosphere that offers space both for professional exchange and for quiet encounters with the instrument.
In 2026, the Blockflute Festival once again follows its guiding theme, Early Music in New Garments, while expanding it with fresh and surprising perspectives. The programme design clearly reflects my personal credo: to present the diversity of the blockflute in all its artistic, cultural and tonal facets. No other instrument offers such a breadth of construction, playing techniques and repertoire — from medieval music to contemporary works, from European tradition to intercultural dialogues with musical voices from Persia, Taiwan, Armenia, Japan and Sepharad.
The festive opening on Thursday evening welcomes you to the Church of the Redeemer, where Maurice Steger and outstanding instrumental colleagues present the new programme Les Nations en danse. The French-Armenian baroque violinist Chouchane Siranossian shapes the French sound world with colour and refinement, baroque cellist Mauro Valli brings the Italian tradition to life in rich, resonant interpretations, and Irene Roldán at the harpsichord represents Spain with Soler’s famous Fandango. Works by Vivaldi and Leclair, Falconieri and Telemann — all inspired by the dance music of their time — combine to form a musical journey through the nations of the Baroque.
On Friday we welcome the young and multiple award-winning ensemble Barock_Plus with the two blockflutists Tabea Wink and Marie Wunder. In their programme In Friendship, familial and artistic relationships between the Bach family and Telemann, as well as the master–pupil bond between Corelli and Geminiani, are transformed into finely woven musical dialogues.
In the evening, a celebration of sheer playing joy awaits with Wildes Holz and Spark — The Classical Band. Close-harmony arrangements, jazz inflections, baroque virtuosity and rock energy meet: from “Mr Sandman” to Highway to Hell — the blockflute in perhaps its most surprising and exhilarating form.
Saturday begins with musical greetings from the Far East. The Taiwanese blockflutist Meng-Heng Chen explores the expressive sound world of the 20th century for blockflute and piano in Between Light and Shadow — from introspective meditations to vivid contemporary sound languages, crowned by a present-day voice from Taiwan.
In the afternoon we return to the Church of the Redeemer for medieval sound worlds: in Quando el Rey Nimrod, the Ensemble fowr and Corina Marti present music from Sepharad and Ashkenaz, with blockflutes, clavicimbalum, drum, as well as single and double flutes. Stories of kings and queens, power, love and homelessness unfold in music of striking narrative force.
In the evening, the Rossini Hall is transformed into a resonant palazzo: the long-awaited debut of the Austrian Baroque Company under the direction of the virtuosic blockflutist Michael Oman promises a feast for the senses. Flute’s Paradise leads from England to Italy, from Marcello to Tollet, from Pandolfi Mealli to Ortiz — a colourful panorama of European instrumental music between 1600 and 1750.
As part of the two late-night concerts, on Saturday you will hear Telemann’s Fantasias and contemporary reflections, performed by the outstanding blockflutist Tabea Debus. On Friday, Persian and Armenian sound colours enchant the Church of the Redeemer: Reza Askarzadeh on the duduk and Chouchane Siranossian on the violin lead you into musical worlds of intense poetic power.
Our educational formats are particularly close to our hearts: the masterclass with several professors, the two-day Knowledge Corners, and the Intrada, which offers all blockflute players the opportunity to tune in to the festival together. Frank Oberschelp and Meng-Heng Chen will assume the musical direction of this large ensemble. On Thursday at 5 pm, a presentation concert will feature works by Bach, Gabrieli and Lully as well as modern Chinese music.
The festival concludes on Sunday morning with a festive church service in the Church of the Redeemer, featuring the blockflute concerto by Christoph Graupner. The soloist is Barbara Stumpf, accompanied by the Bad Kissingen Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jörg Wöltche.
I very much look forward to presenting outstanding blockflutists and ensembles, as well as exhibitors eager to share their instruments and new releases, and musicians of our time — and to experiencing the Blockflute Festival together with you: a place where we come together to celebrate, exchange ideas and be inspired by a unique atmosphere, by sound, fine instruments and valuable connections.
With great anticipation, I send you my warmest regards
and look forward to seeing you in May
Yours sincerely,
Maurice Steger
