Festival Residency · 2026
speGTRa Aachen Guitar Festival
Sonic Spectrum · October 2–11, 2026 · Aachen, Germany
In October 2026 Clarice Assad was in residence at speGTRa, the Aachen Guitar Festival in Germany, for its 2026 edition, SONIC SPECTRUM (October 2–11). Over ten days her music was heard in six concerts, played by more than forty musicians, and she appeared as composer, pianist and vocalist: in duo with clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi, with the world premiere of UMBRA, a festival commission for guitar and woodwind quintet, with her chamber music performed by the Minguet Quartett and guest soloists, and as vocalist in the closing concert, Chordophon X.
In October 2026 Clarice Assad was in residence at speGTRa, the Aachen Guitar Festival in Germany, for its 2026 edition, SONIC SPECTRUM (October 2–11). Over ten days her music was heard in six concerts, played by more than forty musicians, and she appeared as composer, pianist and vocalist: in duo with clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi, with the world premiere of UMBRA, a festival commission for guitar and woodwind quintet, with her chamber music performed by the Minguet Quartett and guest soloists, and as vocalist in the closing concert, Chordophon X.
Highlights
- Position: Festival residency at speGTRa, Aachen Guitar Festival 2026 (SONIC SPECTRUM)
- Oct 3 · Theater Aachen, Spiegelfoyer: duo concert with Clarice Assad (piano, vocals) and Gabriele Mirabassi (clarinet). Preconcert: Vokalensemble Caleidon, conducted by Johannes Honnecker, singing her choral suite Aos moços for SATB and piano, on texts by Cora Coralina
- Oct 4 · Annakirche: World premiere of UMBRA for guitar and woodwind quintet, commissioned by speGTRa, performed by the ARUNDOS Quintett with guitarist Vicente Bögeholz. Preconcert: The Book of Spells, performed by Jernej Mišic (harp), Stefanie Faust (flute), Arnd Sartor-Meißner (oboe), David Kindt (clarinet) and Paul Tulloch (viola)
- Oct 5 · Aachen Music School: masterclass with Clarice Assad
- Oct 8 · Mufab Aachen, preconcert: Encuentros, performed by Agapi Triantafyllidi (piano), Luciano Marziali (guitar), Hasang Lee (violin), Sofiia Savchuk (viola) and Anastasia Deligiannakis (cello)
- Oct 10 · Rathaus Aachen, Krönungssaal: The Minguet Quartett (Ulrich Isfort and Annette Reisinger, violins; Aroa Sorin, viola; Matthias Diener, cello) with soloists Rada Geffroy (mandolin) in Obrigado, Stephanie Jones (guitar) in Mosaik and Juanjo Mosalini (bandoneón) in Clash. Preconcert: Three Balkan Dances for flute and guitar, performed by Duo Smirnova Esakova: Aleksandra Esakova (flute) and Mariia Smirnova (guitar)
- Oct 11 · Theater Aachen, Großes Haus: closing concert Chordophon X, with Clarice Assad (vocals) in the world premieres of Wolfgang Bartsch’s Two Wolves and To be Good. With Nguyên Lê (electric guitar), Paul Müller Reyes (electric guitar, electronics), Harald Ingenhag and Illya Amar (percussion), Dirk Sprotte (electric bass), Chihoon Choi (double bass), the Cologne Guitar Quartet, Duo Bögeholz Mosalini, CX Guitar Ensemble, NRW Mandolin Ensemble and Vokalensemble Caleidon
World premiere: UMBRA (2026)
UMBRA for guitar and woodwind quintet was commissioned by speGTRa, the Aachen Guitar Festival, and is dedicated to Vicente Bögeholz and the ARUNDOS quintet, who gave the premiere at the Annakirche on October 4, 2026.