Rather than separating established performers from emerging talent, FAB Classical Summerfest 2026 brings them together on the same stages, in rehearsal rooms and throughout a programme designed around collaboration as much as performance.

Running from 25 June to 13 July, the 11th edition of Festival Academy Budapest (FAB) will once again turn the Hungarian capital into a meeting point for the international classical music community.

More than 50 soloists and around 170–210 young musicians from 40 countries are expected to take part across twenty days of concerts, masterclasses and competitions held at some of Budapest’s best-known cultural venues.

Founded by internationally recognised Hungarian violinists Katalin Kokas and Barnabás Kelemen, Festival Academy Budapest has developed a reputation that extends beyond the traditional festival format.

Alongside public performances, participants take part in intensive training programmes and work directly with established musicians in an environment that places learning and artistic exchange at the centre of the experience.

This year’s Summerfest programme will unfold across landmark locations including the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest Music Center and, for one special event, Budapest’s Széchenyi Thermal Bath, where organisers plan to move music beyond the formal concert setting.

A major feature of the festival is the sixth Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition, where 42 young musicians will compete over three rounds before an international jury.

The competition forms part of the wider educational structure of the festival, creating opportunities for audiences to follow both artistic development and high-level performance in real time.

The concert programme combines established classical repertoire with less conventional collaborations. Across the festival, audiences can expect chamber music, orchestral works, theatre-inspired performances and projects that draw on folk traditions alongside classical forms.

One concert, for example, places Bach and Bartók alongside staged theatrical elements, while another combines Beethoven with Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances.

The guest list reflects the festival’s international scope. Among the artists appearing this year are Alena Baeva, Kirill Gerstein, Denis Kozhukhin, Andreas Ottensamer, Ilya Gringolts, Mihaela Martin, Alissa Margulis, Maxim Rysanov, Boris Brovtsyn and Hungarian cellist László Fenyő, many of whom will also lead public masterclasses during the event.

One of FAB Summerfest’s defining ideas is its emphasis on the relationship between generations of musicians.

Rather than limiting emerging artists to educational sessions behind closed doors, the festival places students and internationally recognised performers side by side in rehearsals and concerts, giving audiences insight into how classical performance is developed and passed on.

The festival concludes with “FRATRES”, a closing concert designed to bring together the entire FAB community on stage — from first-time participants to returning guest artists — marking the end of nearly three weeks in which Budapest becomes not simply a concert destination, but a place where performance, learning and international exchange meet through music.

More:
fesztivalakademia.hu/en