In its 33rd year, the Koblenz Guitar Festival & Academy invites you to exciting concerts and events around the diverse world of string instruments from June 1st to 9th as part of the Rhineland-Palatinate Culture Summer. New this year is the location, as the festival will take place for the first time on the other side of the Rhine: on a campus consisting of the State Music Academy of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schloss Engers, Heinrich-Haus, and Sayner Hütte. “This campus is a true gem in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate: We can accommodate and cater for around 100 students and 50 artists, there are hotels and holiday apartments, and the guitar makers have a perfect exhibition space in the historic town hall right by the castle gate – plus the immediate location by the Rhine and most importantly: We can all be together again,” says festival director Prof. Georg Schmitz. He himself is a declared fan, especially of Sayner Hütte, which with its two halls provides suitable concert venues for both solo recitals and performances with orchestra. Schmitz is not the only one pleased about the move to the area of the industrial monument; Dr. Björn Rodday, managing director of Sayner Hütte, explains: “This place unites history and present, and as a vibrant resonance space for artistic questions, it provides the ideal framework for the Koblenz Guitar Festival.” Amidst the historical industrial backdrop, music can here open new perspectives, foster dialogue between tradition and innovation, and intensify cultural experiences.
Thus, from June 1st to 9th, the cities of Neuwied and Bendorf will become the center of the guitar world, as in addition to the concerts at Sayner Hütte, the courses and competitions at Schloss Engers as well as in the Heinrich-Haus chapel will also attract guitar enthusiasts.
Every day, events of various formats take place at all locations: Solo recitals, talk concerts, competition rounds, seminars, and guitar presentations, along with artists from all over the world, will make the 33rd Koblenz Guitar Festival & Academy again a musician's experience of a special kind.
An additional attraction is sound art installations by students from the Sound Art Composition department of the Mainz University of Music throughout the entire monument area of Sayner Hütte.

International solo artists, ensembles, and orchestras will perform with a variety of programs over the nine festival days. One of them is guitarist David Russell from the United Kingdom, who will also receive the lifetime achievement award of the Koblenz Guitar Festival & Academy this year. “In a musical ceremony on Whit Monday, students, colleagues, companions, and friends will honor an artist who has taken the guitar to new dimensions and opened broader horizons and possibilities for subsequent generations,” says festival director Schmitz.

The complete program with details about the individual events and concerts, the works listed there, and ticket purchasing options can be found online at www.koblenzguitarfestival.de.