Kick-off of the 2026 Accordion Year
Concerts and workshops with Prof. Claudia Buder's class in Leipzig
As part of the second “Impro Vision” event organized by the “Neue Musik Leipzig” music school, Prof. Claudia Buder's Weimar accordion class will be performing in the Saxon capital. To kick off the Accordion Year 2026, which was proclaimed by the various state music councils, there will be several concerts, workshops, and a symposium on January 9 and 10 at the intersection of new and contemporary music, jazz, and improvisation.
A musical prelude will take place on Friday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Propsteikirche Leipzig. There, students from the Weimar Music university will perform together with Weimar Prize winner Michael von Hintzenstern, who is considered a master of improvisation.
Saturday will then be dedicated to the accordion as the “Instrument of the Year 2026”: in addition to an opening concert with the Ensemble for New Music of the Leipzig Music School and accordion students, the program will include further joint concerts and a symposium.
Students interested in composition will also participate in the symposium with composer Tomoya Yokokawa. The accordion will be presented to the participants in a presentation: Which aspects are important when composing? How do I compose for the accordion?
In a subsequent workshop phase, initial compositional drafts for the instrument will then be created. “At the end of the symposium, students will play and translate the collected ideas into sound,” explains Weimar accordion professor Claudia Buder.
The joint project in Leipzig also serves as preparation for the summer course of the State Youth Ensemble for Contemporary Music in July 2026 at the State Music Academy of Saxony. “The accordion will also be the focus there,” says Claudia Buder.
Further information: www.neue-musik-leipzig.de/improvision
[09.12.2025]