THIRD LIED COMPETITION
BOLKO VON HOCHBERG

All events of the competition are open to the public and free of charge.

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In Görlitz (30 May – 1 June 2026)

The Kaufhaus Görlitz is one of the city's most significant historical monuments. It is currently under renovation and often serves as an impressive film set (e.g., for “The Grand Budapest Hotel”).

The opening of the First Round takes place on Saturday, 30 May, at 10:30 (welcome to the audience and jury, thanks to sponsors) – in German and Polish. The First Round starts at 11:00. This edition features approx. 60–80 duos. The list and programmes of participants can be found here. Each duo presents four songs in the First Round (max. 15 minutes).

The audience may vote for their favourite duo! To participate in the voting, we warmly invite culturally interested listeners to become members of the “Bolko von Hochberg” Friends Circle. Each member of this German-Polish community of music lovers sends their vote by email to liedcompetition@gmail.com – at the end of the final. The 12 finalists are rated (1–10), and up to three additional duos from the First Round and Semi-Finals may be mentioned that particularly impressed.

The Audience Prize is an invitation for the favourite duo to give an exclusive song recital in the region – specially for the Friends Circle – in 2027.

In the Kaufhaus, the public may only enter at the beginning of each session (11:00, 15:00, and 17:00). Entering or leaving during a duo's performance is not permitted. The daily programme is presented as a digital document, on two posters at the entrance, and on a screen behind the stage – bilingual German/Polish.

At the end of the first day (30 May), a small reception for the Friends Circle, musicians, and jury takes place in the Kaufhaus Görlitz.

Interested parties can register for the Friends Circle here: [Link].

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In Jelenia Góra (21 May and 3–4 June 2026)

At the Lower Silesian Philharmonic (Chamber Music Hall), an opening event takes place on 21 May 2026 at 17:00: Presentation of the competition and its namesake Bolko von Hochberg, who died 100 years ago (1926) in Bad Salzbrunn. The composer, patron, and intendant founded the “Silesian Music Festivals” in Jelenia Góra (then Hirschberg) 150 years ago – gatherings of regional choral societies –, which later (from 1912) took place in the specially built Stadthalle Görlitz.

A small reception follows, and the evening ends with a song recital by the prize-winners of the 2nd edition: Soprano Sarah Gilford (England) and Pianist Ewa Danilewska (Poland). The concert programme can be found here [Link].

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On 3 June, the Semi-Finals take place in the Philharmonic's Chamber Music Hall: 10:30–13:00, 15:00–17:00, and 17:15–19:30. 23 duos are selected from the First Round. The public can reserve/order free admission tickets at the Philharmonic box office.

The Final is on 4 June at 15:00 (admission from 14:30). It is divided into two parts: 15:00–17:00 (6 duos) and 17:30–19:30 (further 6 duos). The jury deliberates from 19:30–21:00, the award ceremony begins at 21:30. The competition ends around 22:00.

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Audio and video recordings are made for all competition days and will be available on the YouTube channel of the competition (International Lied Competition Bolko von Hochberg). Past participants from previous editions can already be heard and seen there.

The competition will take place for the fourth time in 2028 (Schubert Year) and the fifth edition in the reopened Stadthalle Görlitz in 2030. We look forward to building a large community of musicians and audience to celebrate the beautiful future of the lied and the beauty of our region!

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The Third International Lied Competition “Bolko von Hochberg” is co-financed by the European Union through the Small Project Fund INTERREG Poland-Saxony.