KLANGSPUREN SCHWAZ
Tyrolean festival of new music
09/11–09/27/2025

 

Klangspuren Schwaz 2025 focuses on the relationship between humans and technology and invites us to explore our emotional approach to digital innovations in new ways. It has been said that even a thousand years ago the brazen head of the inventive Pope Sylvester II had a fascinating but also unsettling effect on people. In the modern age, people sought to precisely measure the world. This not only satisfied a need to control nature but also raised cool-headed reason above heated emotions. In today’s debates about the influence of digital technology and artificial intelligence, old fears of losing control are once again flaring up: Will we still need musicians in the near future? Will there still be concerts? Klangspuren Schwaz wants to address these issues with curiosity and openness, with a critical but above all playful attitude. The festival aims to show how artists approach these questions creatively. How instead of technical perfection, they focus mainly on expanding artistic forms of expression and daring to move bravely and confidently in a technologized world. And if we are to believe the words of the writer Louis Chude-Sokei, then this meeting of humans and technology can produce a sort of new, warm and respectful relationship that benefits us.

Klangspuren Café

In 2025, the Klangspuren Café will open its doors again to anyone curious about the festival and the world of new music. Over the course of three evenings, visitors will have the opportunity to engage in conversation with artists, ask questions, and delve into the 2025 programme. Composer and performer Gunter Schneider will host the evenings. Together with different guests each evening, he will discuss the background, working methods and ideas behind the festival. How is a new piece of music created? What motivates musicians and composers? And how do you read a newly written score?   The Klangspuren Café is open to anyone who wants to find out more, whether they are a fan of new music, a festival professional, or simply interested in new sounds. Here, you can ask questions, have discussions and, occasionally, disagree. Anyone who wants to experience the festival world up close is cordially invited.

Dates:
17 June 2025, 6.30 pm
Liber Wiederin, Erlerstraße 6, 6020 Innsbruck
To kick things off, Christof Dienz, the artistic director of Klangspuren Schwaz, will share insights into the 2025 festival programme. The 32nd edition is dedicated to the complex relationship between humans, machines, and music, exploring how old and new technologies shape this relationship and the soundscapes that emerge from it.

5 September 2025, 5 pm, Reich für die Insel, Rennweg 4, 6020 Innsbruck.
9 September 2025, 6:30 pm, Reich für die Insel, Rennweg 4, 6020 Innsbruck.