From Munich to the world: Follow the jubilee edition of the ARD competition across 18 live streams

Experience classical music live, wherever you are: in its anniversary year 2026, the ARD Music Competition is once again expanding its digital platform for audiences at home. As 184 musicians from 32 nations compete in their respective disciplines at the ‘Olympic Games of classical music’ (Sir Simon Rattle), classical music fans from all over the world can follow who triumphs in each round. A total of 18 live streams invite viewers to share in the excitement and exchange their thoughts with peers in the chat.

The second rounds of the competition in the categories of bassoon, string quartet and percussion, as well as all the semi-finals, finals and the three prize winners’ concerts, will be broadcast.  The series kicks off with the organ semi-final on September 4 and concludes on September 18 with the third prize winners’ concert in the Herkulessaal, featuring the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
Further behind-the-scenes insights are available on the Instagram channel @ard_competition.

Last year, the ARD Music Competition already demonstrated an impressive digital reach: from South Korea to Mexico, a steadily growing fan base followed the selection rounds via livestream. Whilst a concert hall holds around 1,000 people, each livestream reached about twenty times that number. The online audience is younger than that in the hall: 40 per cent of stream viewers for the wind instrument categories were under 35 years old.

An overview of the live streams

All live streams are available on the YouTube channel @ARDKlassik, grouped together in a playlist: HERE

Organ:

• Semi-finals: September 4 and 5 at 7.30 pm (CEST)
• Final: September 9 at 4 pm (CEST)

Bassoon:

• Round 2: September 5 and 6 from 10 am (CEST)
• Semi-finals: September 8 from 4 pm (CEST)
• Final: September 11 from 4 pm (CEST)

String quartet:

• Second round: September 7 and 8 from 10.00 am (CEST)
• Semi-finals: September 10 at 12.00 pm and 5.00 pm (CEST)
• Final: September 12 at 4.00 pm (CEST)

Percussion:

• Second round: September 7 and 8  from 11.00 am (CEST)
• Semi-finals: September 10 at 11.00 am, 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm (CEST)
• Final: September 13 at 4.00 pm (CEST)

Prize winners’ concerts:

• 1st prize winners’ concert: September 16 at 8.00 pm (CEST)
• 2nd prize winners’ concert: September 17 at 8.00 pm (CEST)
• 3rd prize winners’ concert: September 18 at 8.00 pm (CEST)

Further information

You will find full details of the daily schedule, participants, competition results and the prizewinner concerts constantly updated on the webseite of the ARD Music Competition HERE

Photos and additional press material is available for download HERE

Press Contact

PS Music Berlin
Peggy Schmidt, Simone Dollmann
mail: ard-wettbewerb@psmusicberlin.com
phone: +49 (0)171 689 01 12

photo credit: Daniel Delang