+++ Toshio Hosokawas works at festivals in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lucerne and in Rheingau: Three major music festivals will be featuring the Japanese composer in late August. Firstly, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern host a concert to celebrate Olivier Messiaen's 100th birthday anniversary. Besides the world premiere of Hosokawa's Elegie for solo violin, the audience will be able to hear the rehearsal work on his quartet Stunden-Blumen. The work with the same instrumentation as Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps will then be premiered on 23 August at the Lucerne Festival. And a few days later, the Rheingau Musik Festival will run a composer portrait focusing on Toshio Hosokawa's music. A definite highlight will be the performance of his touching requiem Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima.

+++ The Arcanto Quartet at Festivals in Copenhagen, Helsinki and in Rheingau: Two festival debuts and a second invitation are on the schedule for the quartet in the next days. Both the Tivoli Festival and the Rheingau Musik Festival will host the four musicians for the first time. Between these two concerts the Arcanto Quartet has been invited back to the Helsinki Festival. The programme includes works by Dutilleux, Haydn and Brahms.

+++ Peter Rundel conducts Stockhausen's Michaels Reise at the Cologne Philharmonie: On 25 and 26 August, musikFabrik will be performing Michaels Gruß, Michaels Reise and Michaels Abschied, conducted by Peter Rundel, in a new scenic production of Thursday from Stockhausen's momumental opera cycle Light at the Philharmonie in Cologne. Carlos Padrissa directed the production, which was premiered at the Wiener Festwochen earlier this year in co-operation with the Wiener Taschenoper, KölnMusik and musikFabrik.

+++ Stefan Litwin at Beethoven Festival Bonn: On 29 August, Stefan Litwin will perform in the opening concert at Beethoven Festival Bonn. Born in Mexico City, the much sought-after pianist will perform Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen conducted by Paavo Järvi. HK Gruber, well-known as conductor of distinguished ensembles such as Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Modern, will perform as speaker.