In the page's words:

37th ROMANIC SUMMER COLOGNE 2025: "Peace"

From noon to midnight, from Renaissance to avant-garde through Romanesque Cologne from June 22 to 27

A week of musical wishes for peace across epochs, genres and cultures // 16 concerts including Musica Fiata, Dorothee Mields, the Hamburg Ratsmusik, the Uzbek Trio Gulzoda, the Tengerton String Quartet from Mongolia, the Ensemble MAM Stockhausen and three world premieres by Michael Veltmann, gamut inc and Sven-Ingo Koch

In turbulent times, even we Central Europeans accustomed to peace are beginning to understand the existential fervor of musical invocations of peace by composers of all cultures and centuries as a reality of life. The Romanesque Summer is dedicating this year's program to "peace" in all its facets, opening up the acoustic wonder chambers of Cologne's Romanesque churches, which were rebuilt after the war, to new sound experiences from 20 to 27 June . Sixteen festival contributions by renowned formations and exceptional performers will be dedicated to the longing for peace in the traditionally eclectic program mix of global music, electro, rousing vocal music, early music and avant-garde. In the midst of the most beautiful Romanesque art treasures, the concerts will once again be taking place throughout the city on five festival days from midday until late in the evening. Advance ticket sales start via KölnTicket on April 22. WDR is a media partner and broadcasts most of the concerts.

Sound universes in Romanesque lunch breaks and Romanesque nights

On its tour of discovery through eight of Cologne's twelve Romanesque churches, the festival opens on Sunday, June 22 with the first of five Romanesque lunch breaks under the motto "Saitenklänge" at 12.30 pm in St. Cäcilien. French double bassist Kham Meslien will then unfold an entire "Bass Universe". With a large tableau of Monteverdi's Venetian masses for Santa Maria Salute, the top ensembles Capella Ducale and Musica Fiata under the direction of Roland Wilson will then prepare a splendid opening festival in St. Ursula at 5 pm.

The Romanesque lunch breaks continue their exploration of the string universe on Tuesday, 24 June - cello luminary Peter Bruns will be the guest at St. Cäcilien with a Bach program. In the evening, the Uzbek trio Gulzoda will whisk you away to an "oasis in the desert" in St. Andreas, before the Romanesque Summer moves on to St. Gereon for Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Twelfth Hour" with the MAM trio of Paul Hübner (trumpet), Ellen Fallowfield (cello) and Philipp Körper (saxophone) in cooperation with Florian Zwissler (historical electronics).

After the Romanesque lunch break on Wednesday with the rousing string duo Tobias Kassung (guitar) and Lena Kraviets (cello), the evening holds exciting experimental sound experiences in the Kunststation St. Peter with the string quartet Tra I Tempi and a world premiere by Michael Veltmann and the Berlin duo Gamut Inc - the latter especially for the organ in the KunstStation St. Peter

On Thursday, June 26, Alon Sariel opens up his world of strings with oud, lute and guitar in St. Cäcilien. In the evening, the soprano Magdalene Harer and the Hamburg Ratsmusik will send early Baroque settings of Luther's chorale "Verleih' uns Frieden" into the vastness of St. Pantaleon. In St. Maria Lyskirchen, Salim(a) Javaid questions the late evening sky in Giorgio Netti's "necessità d'interrgoare il cielo" - THE saxophone reference work of the last thirty years.

Meandering between early and new music, violinist Sara Cubarsi and world-class harpsichordist Luca Quintavalle will probably bring the most strings of the Romanesque lunch breaks to the stage together when they juxtapose works from the present and the 17th century on Friday lunchtime in St. Cäcilien and ring in the big final day with a world premiere by Sven Ingo Koch, which culminates in the legendary Romanesque Night in the evening - long part of Cologne's pop culture. This year, the organizers will present four sets from eight to midnight, broadcast live by media partner WDR3. They include large-scale vocal music with the Kölner Kantorei and Hanns Eisler's "Gegen den Krieg" with a libretto by Berthold Brecht; the Cologne-based original sound ensemble Harmonie Universelle with soprano Dorothee Mields as guest of honor; the 40-piece ensemble Vocapella from Limburg, and, as a farewell, the Mogolian Tengerton Quartet, who will send us off into the night with "Sounds of Heaven".