‘Barockes Juwel’ St. Johann in Tirol

Immediately after the festive Easter season, the Baroque Music Festival will take place in St. Johann for the second time in 2026 – a highlight for music lovers and culture enthusiasts. From 6 to 26 April, St. Johann will be the venue for an impressive programme that highlights the beauty and diversity of Baroque music. The festival offers a unique opportunity to experience the works of great composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, Henry Purcell, Ivan Hovhaness and Antonio Vivaldi in various locations in St. Johann. Renowned artists and ensembles will bring the venerable sounds of this era to life and take the audience on a musical journey into the 17th and 18th centuries. The concerts will take place in the Deanery Parish Church, the Hospital Church of St. Nicholas near Weitau and the Parish Hall. These concert venues offer the perfect acoustic and architectural ambience.

Baroque music unfolds its power especially so soon after Easter, which stands for hope and renewal. The profound and often spiritual compositions invite listeners to engage with the central themes of the season. The festival is organised by the Kitzbühel Alps St. Johann in Tirol Tourism Association, with Reinhold Wieser as artistic director.

The festival will be opened on 6 April by Helmut Fuchs (principal trumpeter of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) and Matthias Grünert (organist and cantor of the Frauenkirche Dresden) with the concert ‘The Magic of the Trumpet’ in the Dekanatspfarrkirche. The festival continues on 12 April with ‘Blockflöte Virtuos’ (Recorder Virtuoso) in the parish hall – performed by Erazem Žganjar, a master's student at the Mozarteum Salzburg under Prof. Dorothee Oberlinger. On 15 April, the ‘Ensemble Pongowe’ will perform in the church in Weitau. The small chamber orchestra from Bischofshofen is dedicated to composers such as Georg Muffat, Georg Philipp Telemann, Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi. On 19 April, ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen’ will be performed by Waltraud Nagl, Christina Eberl and Bernhard Sowa-Würtl. A regional highlight will follow on 22 April, when Alena Lipka and her ensemble ‘Brettspiele’ will demonstrate that the hammered dulcimer is also more than suitable for Baroque music. The festival will conclude on 26 April with the concert ‘Krönungsmesse W. A. Mozart’ in the Dekanatspfarrkirche – with the church choir St. Johann in Tirol & friends, the ChorART choir from St. Johann and the orchestra of the St. Johann regional music school.

Along with culture and traditions, sporty and active leisure opportunities have been gathered together in the ‘Activities’ category – from a spring hike when you get to discover the first of spring's little flowers, to the evening snow-shoe hike ‘Find your Flow’. The OD Trails will be starting up again during Easter week in St. Johann, providing cyclists with an opportunity to experience their first trail rides again after the winter.