Klavier-Festival Ruhr 2025: Celebrating the Piano

With Marc-André Hamelin, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Hayato Sumino.

The Klavier-Festival Ruhr, running from May 10 to July 16, is a premier international piano festival held across 17 cities in Germany’s Ruhr region, featuring over 100 artists performing in 25 venues, with a diverse programme encompassing classical masterpieces, contemporary works, jazz, and innovative educational projects.

Three programme highlights will be recorded in June 2025:

14 June
Long-time festival favourite since 1997, Marc-André Hamelin returns as a portrait artist. Renowned for blending intellectual depth with emotional expression, Hamelin presents both, beloved classics and rarities, with music by Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Zappa, and Wolpe.

21 June
The Youngsters series at Zeche Zollern offers audiences a unique cultural experience. In the stunning setting of this Art Nouveau colliery, rising star Jeneba Kanneh-Mason — a member of the celebrated Kanneh-Mason family — enchants with a programme spanning works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin, alongside pieces by African American composers William Grant Still and Florence Price.

30 June
The third recording features Hayato Sumino, known to millions online as "Cateen". Bridging classical tradition and modern creativity, Sumino showcases his dazzling 24 variations on Mozart’s Turkish March and a high-energy arrangement of Gershwin’s An American in Paris — proving that classical music today can be as innovative as it is electrifying.

Genre Recital
Recording location Duisburg Landschaftspark Nord – Gebläsehalle, Dortmund LWL-Industriemuseum Zeche Zollern, Bochum Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr
Recording date 14-30 June 2025
Production Company EuroArts Music, Heliox, WDR, Arte
TV Director Beatrix Conrad, David Unger
Distribution TV EuroArts Music International
English title of music work 14 June, Marc-André Hamelin: Joseph Haydn: Sonata in D major, Hob.XVI:37, Stefan Wolpe Passacaglia, John Oswald: TIP, Frank Zappa: Ruth Is Sleeping, Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in C major, Op. 2 No. 3, Nikolai Medtner: Improvisation in B sharp major, Nikolai Medtner: Danza festiva, Sergei Rachmaninoff: Etude-Tableau, Sonata No. 2 Op. 36
English title of music work 21 June: Jeneba Kanneh-Mason: Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 5, Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 “Tempest Sonata”, Frédéric Chopin: Nocturnes No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 and No. 8 in D-flat Major, Op. 27 No. 1, William Grant Still: Summerland, Florence Price: Fantasie Nègre
English title of music work 30 June: Hayato Sumino: Johann Sebastian Bach: Italian Concerto, BWV 971, Jean-Philippe Rameau: Pièces de clavecin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in A Major, KV 331, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Turkish March, Variations in all 24 Keys (Arr. Hayato Sumino), Alberto Ginastera: Sonata No. 1, George Gershwin: An American in Paris (Arr. Hayato Sumino)
Soloist Marc-André Hamelin
Soloist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Soloist Hayato Sumino
Duration approx. 80'-120'