10 Years of the Month of Contemporary Music
In 2026, the Month of Contemporary Music celebrates its 10th anniversary. From the 2nd through 31st of October the program will present a wide variety of different streams and modes of expression from the contemporary music scene in Berlin.
The 10th anniversary of the Month of Contemporary Music will be celebrated through the inaugural ENSEMBLEFEST Berlin 2026 with a three-day program of concerts and performances. Organized by Ensembletreffen Berlin e.V., the festival focuses on collaboration within Berlin’s multifaceted ensemble scene, which is characterized by a wide variety of aesthetic forms of expression and a high level of artistic diversity. Participating ensembles include: ensemble apparat, ensemble mosaik, FrauVonDa//, KNM Berlin, Kollektiv Unruhe, Lange//Berweck//Lorenz, LUX:NM, MAM.manufaktur für aktuelle musik, Maulwerker, Modern Art Ensemble, Schwelbrandorchester, Splitter Orchester, Trickster Orchestra, Zafraan Ensemble, and Zinc & Copper. The ensembles represent a wide range of aesthetic approaches and work within genres such as New Music, Echtzeitmusik, improvisation, vocal music, trans-traditional music, and music theater, and everything in between.
Over its first ten years, the inm/field notes-lead Month of Contemporary Music has developed into an important forum for the Berlin contemporary music scene. Since its founding in 2017, the festival has brought one month a year of around 100 concerts, performances, sound installations, and discussion formats to Berlin’s countless performance spaces and thereby made the diversity of contemporary compositional and performative approaches audible and experienceable. Through close collaboration with ensembles, collectives, and artists from the independent scene, the festival has opened up a space in which different genres—from New Music to improvisation and free improvisation, from Sound Art to music theater and opera—can stand next to each other as equals and create new aesthetic connections. At the same time, the Month of Contemporary Music serves as a measure of current tendencies within the scene and offers insights for interested new participants as well as experienced concertgoers. It encourages exchange between musicians, composers, and listeners and brings in more and more international guests each year.
Month of Contemporary Music: 2–31 October 2026
ENSEMBLEFEST Berlin 2026: 2–4 October 2026
