Sound in the Garden 2026: A Concert Series by Neue Nationalgalerie

30.07.2026
Neue Nationalgalerie

From 12 to 16 August 2026, Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie once again presents the open-air concert series Sound in the Garden, featuring ambitious live concerts specially customised to the venue and a multi-generational line-up crossing genre boundaries. After four nights of exceptional live concerts, Sunday will be dedicated to special sound installations created in honour of Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, who is presenting a site-specific fog sculpture in the sculpture garden of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

Sound in the Garden follows in the tradition of innovative concert formats that have repeatedly taken place in the museum's sculpture garden since the Neue Nationalgalerie opened—from the “Jazz in the Garden” events of the 1970s and 1980s, where artists such as Alice Coltrane and Keith Jarrett performed, to the “Sound in the Garden” series. This tradition was reestablished following the building’s reopening in 2022.

• More information about the “Sound in the Garden 2026” concert series

The 2026 line-up includes veteran innovators like ambient pioneer Gigi Masin and Krautrock icon Michael Rother (NEU!, Harmonia) as much as younger experimental voices like upsammy and Valentina Magaletti or Slauson Malone 1. The clarity and precision of Mies van der Rohe’s architecture, together with the ephemeral poetry of Fujiko Nakaya’s fog sculpture, serve as parallel inspirations for an understanding of music as a spatial art form.

Sound in the Garden is curated by Gregor Quack, Volkswagen Group curator. The project is made possible by FREUNDE der Nationalgalerie in collaboration CTM – Festival for Adventurous Music & Art, Berlin. The festival has received crucial support by its main sponsors audibene GmbH, d&b audiotechnik.