Bridging Europe

BUDAPEST–BERLIN

17–30 September 2021

The joint festival of Müpa Budapest and the Budapest Festival Orchestra always lends an exciting flavour to the start of the new season: besides classical concerts, it also features jazz, popular music and film screenings. At the centre of each instalment over the years of this event series launched in 2013 has been a country or group of countries with a rich and diverse culture and significant musical traditions – as a country's music says a great deal about its inhabitants. From 2021, the concept behind the festival is changing: although the focus will remain on Europe, within this context we will be partnering with another major cultural centre and jointly organising events in both locations, thus promoting the creation of co-productions between the two countries. This September, our partner will be Konzerthaus Berlin, meaning the building of a bridge between Budapest and Berlin. One of the high points of the Bridging Europe festival will be the concert by the Konzerthausorchester Berlin conducted by Iván Fischer, but also receiving an important role in the future will be the permeability between genres, including further developing bridges between classical music and jazz, early music and contemporary music. At the literary programme to be held in the Festival Theatre, Hungarian writers will recount their adventures in Berlin, and there will also be film screenings.