At home at the Wetzlar Festival
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
The pretty, tranquil town of Wetzlar has become a musical home for me over the years. Since 2007, I've had the pleasure of performing there every summer at the festival – sometimes even twice – and on other occasions as well. Fans from Wetzlar have accompanied my wife and me to New Orleans , and several long-standing acquaintances, even friendships, have developed around my concerts. Wetzlar always feels a bit like coming home – you know your way around and feel comfortable.
This year I already had the great pleasure of performing with the wonderful singer Julie Silvera at the Lottehof – the "big" concert, Jazz meets Classic, follows in two weeks. Hopefully in the rose garden, weather permitting. We've always been lucky in recent years.
Jazz meets Classic is taking place for the 19th time this year (July 29, 2026), and it's truly wonderful that the Rosengärtchen in Wetzlar—a marvelous open-air venue with around 900 seats—is almost always sold out. I'm often amazed that people even come to hear me play the piano. For me, it's as natural as breathing or sleeping, and nobody would dream of wanting to watch me sleep and paying for it, would they? :-) Honestly! But it's wonderful that there are people who go to concerts. We need you, dear listeners, like we need air and love! I've put together a short clip from the concert with Julie Silvera for you—unfortunately, it was only filmed with my phone, so please excuse the less-than-perfect picture and sound quality. You can find information about Julie here . She's simply fantastic, and it's so much fun to be on stage with her. She was born in Jamaica, has a degree in classical singing, a master's degree in choral conducting, a doctorate in jazz singing, and has already worked with countless big names in the scene.
For this year's Jazz Meets Classic concert, I was delighted to invite two exciting guests, in addition to my longtime colleague David Frenkel. For those who haven't attended the concert before: Each of us four pianists will have the opportunity to present a solo piece and play a duet with each of the others. And, of course, the concert will conclude with a quartet performance on the two magnificent grand pianos provided by " Das Pianohaus KDH." This year, we are joined by the Israeli pianist Hila Kulik, whom I had the pleasure of meeting two years ago at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, where we were brought together for a duo concert. Also joining us is the Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu, who, in addition to various international prizes and awards, has been named "Jazz Artist of the Year" and "Jazz Composer of the Year" in his native Estonia. In his current program, he explores the music of Schubert. The accompanying album is titled "Schubert Voyage." A truly captivating performance!
And so, our audience, and we ourselves, can once again look forward to numerous spontaneous and creative duets as pianists with such diverse backgrounds and playing styles come together to engage in musical dialogue. I'm very excited – for me, "Jazz meets Classic" is always one of the most exciting concerts of the year. If you'd like to attend, there are probably still a few tickets available. Just check out the Wetzlar Festival website . And if not this year, perhaps next year. Wetzlar is definitely worth a visit :-)