We are delighted that the chamber music concerts in the Humboldtsaal will resume after the summer break. Following some spellbinding concerts featuring the Morgenstern Trio in February and the Kravets-Kassung Duo in March, we look forward to three more concerts from October onwards: the Arundos Wind Quintet, the Kassung & Marziali Guitar Duo and the Arisva String Quartet.
On 17 October, the Arundos – one of the most captivating wind quintets of all – will be performing in the Humboldt Hall. Alongside works by Bizet, Danzi, Schifrin and Debussy, they will be performing the new quintet by Kevin Beavers. This work, by the American composer based in Düsseldorf, was premiered by the Arundos Quintet in Bonn.
Tobias Kassung and Luciano Marziali will be performing on 14 November and have put together a programme sure to set the hearts of classical music and guitar aficionados racing: opening with Renaissance dance movements by John Dowland, the guitar duo will play two of the monumental counterpoint pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach’s *The Art of Fugue*. This will be followed by works by Kassung – the title track from their award-winning album *Il Cinema* – by the French composer Mathias Duplessy, Handel’s Suite HWV 432, and music by Ennio Morricone and Hans Werner Henze. The final concert of the year will then take place on 12 December, featuring the magnificent Arisva String Quartet. As part of our #henze2026 programme, the Arisva Quartet will combine Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 3, Op. 18, with Hans Werner Henze’s String Quartet No. 1 from 1947 – a tonal yet brilliant early work that paints a rather unfamiliar picture of Henze.
For anyone who would like to get a taste of the chamber concerts at the Humboldt-Hall in the meantime, we recommend our archive. It’s constantly being updated with new live videos from past years:
Review with live videos of the past concerts at the Humboldt-Hall Cologne
We are very grateful for the renewed funding commitments from the City of Cologne’s Cultural Affairs Office and the Kunststiftung NRW. Given the current financial climate, this is by no means a matter of course and sends a strong and important signal in support of the arts and music in Cologne. It is only thanks to this support – and to the generous commitment of our friends and patrons – that we are able to stage these five outstanding concerts this year.
And as always I would like to make a big request to all those who enthusiastically attend our chamber concerts: please remain loyal to us, enjoy the fantastic concerts in the Humboldt Hall and, above all, please support us by becoming a supporting member of our non-profit association.
Thank you very much,
Yours sincerely Tobias Kassung
(Artistic Director)
