In the organizer's words:

The New Year 2026 also begins musically with "Happy New Ear" and a very special concert experience that redraws the boundaries of listening: musical worlds meet, united by innovative 3D audio technology that transforms the Great Hall in the Festspielhaus into a lively, pulsating sound field.

In the first part, the renowned Asasello Quartet will present new compositions by Adrian Laugsch, Aline Sarah Müller, Andres Quezada, Joan Tan, Eftichis Vittorakis and Szymon Wójcik, which have been specially created for an immersive listening experience and combinations of classical string instruments with digital sound technology. The concert is the first highlight of the multi-year project "PODI - Postdigital Interpretation", which explores and presents the introduction and communication of current digital media and XR techniques in classical concert programs together with professional partner institutions, artists and students of the Cologne University of Music and Dance.

The second part of "Happy New Ear" belongs to the legendary trio Brandt Brauer Frick and their handmade, irresistible dancefloor sound. "Concert hall compositions for the clubbing generation" is how the BBC describes the music of the trio, which was founded in 2008 with the idea of uniting repetitive and grooving formulas of electronic dance music with the soundscapes of classical, new music and complex club avant-garde. As a trio, with their ten-piece ensemble or even with an entire orchestra, Brandt Brauer Frick have now played over 400 concerts worldwide in clubs, classical concert halls and at festivals - first in Berlin's Berghain, later also at Lincoln Center, Centre Pompidou and the Cologne Philharmonie. For Art Basel Miami Beach 2022, Brandt Brauer Frick developed "Multi Faith Prayer Room", an immersive sound and light project with 120 voices from over 35 countries, which they also released on their sixth studio album in 2023. At HELLERAU, they will take the project as a starting point to immerse themselves in an extraordinary spatial sound dancefloor together with the audience and celebrate the New Year.