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The Leipzig Mendelssohn Festival will open on Sunday 1 November at 11.00 am in the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus with a charity concert in aid of the Mendelssohn House in Leipzig. As part of the concert, the 2026 Leipzig International Mendelssohn Prize will be awarded: in the ‘Europe’ category to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will give a speech, and in the ‘Music’ category to the clarinettist, conductor and composer Jörg Widmann.
The prizes will be presented by Leipzig’s Lord Mayor, Burkhard Jung.
The charity concert will feature Elena Bashkirova (piano), Jörg Widmann (clarinet), the vocal ensemble amarcord, Carolin Widmann (violin), Pauline Herold (violin), Pauline Sachse (viola), Peter Bruns (cello) and Alexander Schmalcz (piano). The programme features works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Jörg Widmann and Sergei Prokofiev.
The opening concert marks the start of the festival, which runs from 1 to 8 November. This year, the festival is also part of ‘Tacheles – Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony 2026’.
Guest performers include Vadim Gluzman, Yulianna Avdeeva, Les Vents Français, Quatuor Danel, Robert Neumann and Alexander Melnikov. Further highlights include the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s ‘Große Konzerte’ under Andris Nelsons, featuring violinist Augustin Hadelich, and the closing concert with Elena Bashkirova and Alexander Melnikov (piano).
In addition, a themed day on Sunday 8 November will commemorate the destruction of the Mendelssohn monument in Leipzig by the Nazis on 9 November 1936, the 90th anniversary of which is being marked.
Mendelssohn Prize and Mendelssohn Festival
The International Mendelssohn Prize Leipzig honours individuals whose lives and work embody the spirit of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. For Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy embodies the fusion of artistic excellence and versatility with the humanist ideals of modern Europe. Past laureates include, for example, Kurt Masur, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Helmut Schmidt, Lang Lang and W. Michael Blumenthal.
The Leipzig Mendelssohn Festival has been jointly organised every year since 1997 by the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig and the Mendelssohn House Leipzig around the anniversary of Mendelssohn’s death on 4 November, in memory of the composer, pianist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. From 1835 onwards, Mendelssohn had a decisive influence on the musical city of Leipzig, particularly in his role as Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus.
He died in 1847, aged just 38, in what is now the Mendelssohn House.
All dates can be found at mendelssohn-stiftung.de and gewandhausorchester.de.
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