In 2020, the Kölner Klassik Ensemble launched this series to provide a permanent showcase for outstanding chamber music ensembles from Cologne and NRW. Under the artistic direction of Tobias Kassung and the Kölner Klassik Ensemble, the entire diversity of today's classical chamber music is presented here - spanning epochs from early to contemporary music. New formations that combine classical music, jazz and world music are guests here, as are classical string quartets, piano trios, duos and outstanding soloists. Famous and important chamber music works are on the programme, as well as rarely heard or world premieres of new music and unusual arrangements.
These concerts quickly established themselves and the exciting programme selection with outstanding, often unusual ensembles and line-ups has delighted a large audience ever since. Until 2023, the concerts took place in the Riphahn Hall of the Kölnischer Kunstverein. Since 2024, the series has been a guest in the Humboldt Hall. This new chamber music hall on the grounds of the Humboldt-Gymnasium on Kartäuserwall is currently being opened for public concerts in a pilot project by the City of Cologne's Kulturraummanagement (KRM). As a partner of the pilot project, the Kölner Klassik Ensemble is presenting its own ensembles and the top ensembles of the music metropolis on the Rhine in outstanding acoustics.
This year's © NRW programme will once again focus on outstanding works of recent and contemporary music from North Rhine-Westphalia. We will place this music side by side with more familiar chamber music. The aim is to focus on this new music - as a natural part of the concerts - and thus contribute to the pieces finding their way into a general chamber music repertoire. The fluid integration creates a concert experience that spans the spectrum from early to contemporary music and emphasises the complexity of today's chamber music.
You can find the current programme here. A review of the programmes from previous years can be found here.
