Bonn-based concert agency E.-L. Hartz Promotion is bringing a new Season to the open-air site on the Grafenwerth Island in Bonn. It was here that US-American folk icon Joan Baez performed as part of her long farewell tour, and visitors from that 2019 concert season will know that the venue has a special atmosphere – with the Siebengebirge on one side, and the Rhine on the other, plus major musical artists onstage in the middle of course!

Due to COVID-19, the concerts planned for 2020 and 2021 had to be postponed, but organizer Ernst-Ludwig Hartz, is putting his faith firmly in the future success of the venue and has introduced a carefully thought out safety concept to protect spectators. The concerts, with 3,500 fixed seats, will take place outdoors, in compliance with stringent health recommendations and specifications. The aim is that all participants should feel safe for a wonderful, unforgettable concert evening on the island.

The program “Summer Open-Airs on the island of Grafenwerth” will take place in cooperation with the city of Bad Honnef, and includes five events in the period from June 4 to July 2, 2022. Sadly, the world premiere of the multi-media show “The Alpha Experience” by Uli Jon Roth that was scheduled will have to be postponed until 2023. Due to Omicron, rehearsals with the Klassik Orchestra were not possible, so, rather than put on a bad performance, a new date has now been set – June 8, 2023. Tickets already purchased will remain valid.

The Season will open on June 4 with Klassik auf der Insel. The Cologne Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor Magdalena Klein will be accompanied by the soloist Colin Pütz, who performed as the young Ludwig van Beethoven in the television film “Louis van Beethoven”, and has a reputation as a gifted pianist. At only the tender age of 13, Pütz performed under Dirk Kaftan with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. On the program for Klassik auf der Insel is the Holberg Suite by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, the Piano Concerto KV 467 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and of course a bit of Beethoven – his Symphony No. 2.

The innovative and unmistakable music of Andreas Vollenweider enjoys worldwide acclaim, and Vollenwieder has sold more than 15 million recordings, received a Grammy Award, made 18 albums, and performed in prestigious auditoriums worldwide (Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, London Palladium, etc.). The New York Times once wrote: “Vollenweider’s music is like the folk music of a mysterious tribe of an unknown land on a continent not yet discovered” With the harp, Vollenweider has created his own unmistakable musical vocabulary. It all began in the early 80s with a trio. Then followed almost forty years in which Vollenweider lived out his baroque side uninhibitedly. Now he has found his way back to the powerful simplicity of a trio formation. Together with percussionist Walter Keiser and young cellist Isabel Gehweiler, Andreas Vollenweider is once again embarking on “sound journeys”. His concert on June 5 is an exclusive event for Germany in 2022 and his first concert after a break of more than ten years.

When Patti Smith and her band perform on the island of Grafenwerth on June 6, 2022, the audience will be able to witness another step in the artist’s transformation from punk icon to a wise, but still wild, sometimes explicitly angry even, combative shaman. At the age of 75, Patti Smith is one of the great icons, not just of rock music, but also of literature, and her exciting and fascinating stage shows trigger enthusiasm across all generations.

On the day of the concert, Patti Smith will be awarded the 6th International Beethoven Prize. The award ceremony was originally scheduled for 2020 but will finally will be held this year. The prize, awarded by Torsten Schreiber and Andreas Loesch, is for services to human rights, peace, freedom and Poverty Reduction and is endowed with 10,000 euros.

ZAZ released “Isa”, her fifth album, in October 2021. To many she is the voice of France, and ZAZ, who was born Isabelle Geffroy in the French city of Tours, is often compared to legends like Edith Piaf and Ella Fitzgerald. A graduate of the Jazz Conservatory, she moved to Paris as a teenager – the beginning of a unique journey. Since the start of her career in 2010 with the groundbreaking hit “Je veux,” ZAZ has won a multitude of awards, including the 2015 ECHO in the category “Best Artist International Rock/Pop,” her four albums to date have achieved gold status or more in twelve countries.

She has played more than 500 arena concerts on five continents and proven time and again that music is boundless. The audience on the island of Grafenwerth can expect an energetic show from a unique personality.

Special ‘Guest with ZAZ is the Portuguese street musician Estrela Gomes, who just a few
weeks ago had her premiere in Bonn at the “Over The Border” festival. Like Zaz, she is a seasoned street musician but curiously Gomes took to the streets as a bet with her father that she could do it. It was the making of the young Portuguese artist. For several years now, Estrela Gomes has continued touring streets in the metropolises of Europe, and is one of the most impressive voices singing on them.
Her inimitable performance has been described as somewhere between Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday, bridging a gap between chanson, soul and rock with her songs.

Made famous as a founding member of Pink Floyd, in 2018 Nick Mason created his own band Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets.. The project consists of Nick Mason, Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris and Dom Beken. Together, in 2018, they played their first acclaimed live shows at venues including Dingwalls and The Half Moon in Putney, as well as six dates in Germany. The show in Dingwalls was also his first concert since Pink Floyd performed at the “Live 8” concert in London in 2005. Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets have since been playing sold-out venues around the world, such as London’s Roundhouse, where Pink Floyd once played their acclaimed shows in the 1960s.

On the 2022 tour, the band will also include songs from Pink Floyd’s early albums, up to and including 1972’s “Obscured by Clouds.” In addition to his indoor concerts, Nick Mason will come to Grafenwerth Island for a one-off open-air concert on 2. July.

Grafenwerth at a glance:

Classical music on the island
Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Magdalena Klein. Soloist: Colin Pütz
Saturday, June 4, 2022 – 7.30 p.m.
Tickets from 19,00 to 45,00 € plus advance booking fee

Andreas Vollenweider & Friends
Sunday, June 5, 2022 – 8.00 p.m.
Tickets from 33,50 to 70,00 € including advance booking fee

Patti Smith & Band
Monday, June 6, 2022 – 8.00 p.m.
Tickets from 44,25 to 72,00 € including advance booking fee

Zaz
“Organique Tour 2022”
Special Guest: Estrela Gomes
Friday, July 1, 2022 – 8.00 p.m.
Tickets from 40,50 to 75,50 € including advance booking fee

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets
“More Games for May” Tour 2022
Saturday, July 2, 2022 – 9 p.m.
Tickets from 43,50 to 76,50 € including advance booking fees

Tickets via www.Bonnticket.de and http://www.ticketmaster.de as well as at the known outlets.