Soundtrips NRW

A statewide network for improvised music

The renowned concert series for improvised music has been regularly promoted and supported as a programme of the NRWKS for twelve years. Four high-calibre Soundtrips are planned again for 2025:

Soundtrip #72 kicked off in April and May 2025 with Almut Kühne (voc) and Joke Lanz (turntables) and performances in Bochum (26 April), Gelsenkirchen (27 April), Bonn (28 April), Wuppertal (30 April), Duisburg (1 May), Bielefeld (2 May), Dortmund (3 May), Münster (4 May), Cologne (5 May) and Düsseldorf(6 May).

Soundtrip #73 by Isabel Rößler and Girilal Baars followed in May and June with performances in Wuppertal (27 May), Cologne (28 May), Bonn (29 May), Bielefeld (30 May), Bochum (31 May), Münster (1 June), Essen (2 June), Dortmund (3 June), Düsseldorf (4 June) and Hagen (5 June).

From September onwards: Mats Gustafsson and Christof Kunzmann performed in Soundtrip #74 in Bonn (04 September), Oberhausen (05 September), Bochum (06 September), Münster (07 September), Essen (08 September), Cologne (09 September), Düsseldorf (10 September), Hagen (11 September), Dortmund (12 September), Bielefeld (13 September) und Wuppertal (14 September).

To round off the year, Camille Emaille and Nina Garcia will be performing as part of Soundtrip #75 in Düsseldorf (03 December), Duisburg (04 December), Gelsenkirchen (05 December), Bochum (06 December), Münster (07 December), Essen (08 December), Cologne (09 December), Bonn (10 December), Oberhausen (11 December), Dortmund (12 December) and Wuppertal (13 December).

Soundtrips concept

"Soundtrips NRW" is characterised by a special event concept that is supported and continuously developed by various partners: Renowned musicians from NRW meet international greats, younger talents meet established representatives of improvised music. In the first part of each concert, the international guests play their own programme; in the second, they perform together with professors from NRW and provide the scene with new impulses. The local hosts are also happy to make guest appearances with their colleagues in other cities and thus benefit from additional performance opportunities. The network is now supported by 15 member cities with their relevant concert organisers, including Aachen, Bielefeld, Bochum, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Cologne, Moers, Münster, Oberhausen and Wuppertal.

With the "Soundtrips", NRW has a unique nationwide network that makes it possible to experience the entire diversity of personal styles, playing styles and soundscapes of improvised music and makes significant contributions to its further development through inspiring musical encounters. The extraordinary series of events, which has been run as an independent programme in the NRW KULTURsekretariat since 2013, has long since developed into a forum for high-quality concerts that attracts attention beyond the region.