Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim (83) is launching a new festival. The West-Eastern Divan Festival aims to bring international musicians together in Berlin, the Daniel Barenboim Foundation announced on Thursday. Ten concerts are planned from September 11 to 18, 2026, at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Pierre Boulez Saal, and the Berghain techno club.

Daniel Barenboim and
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

The festival opens with a performance by Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Philharmonie. On another evening, the ensemble will perform with pianist Lang Lang. Other artists expected to appear include oud player Naseer Shamma, flautist Emmanuel Pahud , pianist Kathleen Tagg, and clarinetist David Krakauer. Students from the Barenboim-Said Academy, the Fundación Barenboim-Said in Seville, and the Barenboim-Said Center for Music Ramallah will also perform. The full festival program will be announced at a later date.

The non-profit Daniel Barenboim Foundation was established in March 2008 as an umbrella organization for the musical education projects of the world-renowned conductor and pianist, who had worked closely with the American literary scholar Edward Said until Said's death in 2003. The foundation's main projects include the management of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded in 1999, educational projects in the Middle East, and the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, established in 2015.

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