Prague Spring Festival

From 12 May to 2 June 2027, Prague will host the 82nd edition of the Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Czech Republic’s most prestigious classical music event. The festival will present more than thirty concerts featuring leading orchestras and artists from over twenty countries. Among the featured performers are Anne-Sophie Mutter, Igor Levit, Joshua Bell, John Adams, Kurt Elling, Magdalena Kožená, and Jakub Józef Orliński. The unique atmosphere of Prague’s concert halls and historic venues will once again confirm Prague Spring as one of the highlights of the European musical season.

Prague Spring 2027 will be dedicated to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, marking the 200th anniversary of his death. The festival will also introduce the new Prague Spring Beethoven Pass, offering nine special musical experiences, reflecting the number of Beethoven’s symphonies.

The festival will feature 85 artists, ensembles, and orchestras from 23 countries in 37 concerts, alongside dozens of masterclasses, workshops, and accompanying events, including open-air programmes.

The festival will open with a significant milestone in its history. For the first time ever, the opening concert will be performed by a non-European orchestra. On 12 and 13 May, Smetana’s Má vlast will be performed in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jaap van Zweden. The traditional Prague Spring Open Air event in Riegrovy Sady will once again offer a live broadcast of the opening concert on 12 May.

The festival will welcome some of the world’s finest orchestras and performers. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, joined by Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, will perform under the direction of John Adams, presenting the Czech premiere of Adams’s Third Piano Concerto, After the Fall. Violin legend Anne-Sophie Mutter will return to Prague Spring to present the Czech premiere of Arch of Light, a triple concerto by Iranian composer Golfam Khayam, together with violist Muriel Razavi and cellist Kian Soltani. They will be accompanied by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France will appear with chief guest conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Japanese pianist Mao Fujita. After a twenty-four-year absence, American violinist Joshua Bell will return to the festival as both soloist and concertmaster of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Among the leading Czech ensembles featured in the programme are the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra.
A new programme series, Prague Spring Jazz, will make its debut in 2027. The series will be curated by acclaimed American pianist Fred Hersch, one of the most influential figures in contemporary jazz. Joining him in Prague will be two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, one of the most celebrated jazz singers of his generation, and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, whose innovative approach has significantly shaped modern jazz.
Contemporary music will once again take centre stage during the Prague Offspring weekend. The featured artist of the 2027 edition will be German composer and conductor Enno Poppe, renowned for his distinctive musical language that combines complex structures with wit, imagination, and powerful energy. At the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, audiences will hear the Czech premieres of Poppe’s works Fell (Skin), Brot (Bread), and the monumental Körper (Body). In this work, the resident ensemble Ensemble Modern transforms into an unconventional jazz big band.