1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to search
  3. Skip to main menu
  4. Skip to more DW sites

Beethovenfest 2025: DW to livestream as media partner

From August 28 to September 27, Bonn will transform into a stage for musical crossovers: Beethovenfest 2025 will bring together classical music, rap, and Afrobeat in over 100 performances.

Deutschland Bonn 2025 | Beethovenfest Campus-Projekt
Image: Beethovenfest Bonn/DW

As the international media partner of Beethovenfest Bonn, DW will provide editorial coverage of the musical festival, bringing it to a global audience. Among the highlights:

  • The opening concert with the Aurora Orchestra and violinist Alena Baeva on August 29 at the Bonn Opera House
  • The Campus Project "Beethoven meets Afrobeat" on September 11 at the University of Bonn (tickets), and on September 12 at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin (tickets).

All streams will be available on the DW Classical Music YouTube channel, with additional coverage – including interviews, background stories, and multimedia features – on dw.com.

Musical diversity meets global perspectives

The festival kicks off with a double highlight: While the Aurora Orchestra reinterprets classical works at the Bonn Opera, rapper Samy Deluxe will energize the city's central marketplace. In the weeks that follow, audiences can look forward to performances by cellist Anastasia Kobekina (artist-in-residence), star conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, and organist Iveta Apkalna.

A special highlight is the Campus Project, a collaboration between Beethovenfest and DW. With Nigeria as guest country, the German National Youth Orchestra will perform alongside rising talents from Lagos – supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

'Alles ultra!' – A festival between eras

The festival's motto draws on an 1825 line by Goethe, Germany's most celebrated poet and playwright: "Alles, mein Teuerster, ist jetzt ultra, alles transzendiert unaufhaltsam, im Denken wie im Tun." ("Everything, my dear friend, is now ultra, everything transcends relentlessly, in thought as in action.") The Beethovenfest translates this idea into a musical experience that bridges past and present, Europe and Africa, classical tradition and contemporary culture.

Visit the DW Classical Music YouTube channel.

Explore the full Beethovenfest program here.