The festival will take place in Bratislava from 3 to 13 November 2026.
The Music Centre Slovakia is preparing the 18th edition of Melos-Étos, the biennial International Festival of Contemporary Music, presenting a diverse panorama of current musical practices and providing a platform for outstanding artistic personalities, established works and new creative impulses. Bringing together the Slovak music scene and the international community, the festival will present concerts, premieres, experimental projects and works that explore the intersections of music with performance and visual art from 3 to 13 November 2026. This year’s festival visual features the artwork In the Coordinates of Time and Space by visual artist Rudolf Sikora.
The programme features works by leading composers, including Kaija Saariaho, Olga Neuwirth, György Kurtág, Bernhard Lang, Heiner Goebbels and Valentin Silvestrov, alongside music by Slovak and other international composers. Slovak and world premieres are a key part of the programme, making the festival a vibrant platform for the creation and presentation of new music. The festival will also showcase diverse approaches to contemporary performance, ranging from chamber music and solo projects with electronics to staged and performative formats. A particular highlight is FINE / DEATH SPEAKS, featuring music by David Lang and combining music, performance, stage design and video projection.
The festival will welcome Slovak and international performers and ensembles, including Platypus Ensemble, Quasars Ensemble and EnsembleSpectrum, as well as leading Slovak musicians Milan Paľa, Katarína Paľová, Ondrej Veselý, Magdaléna Bajuszová, Peter Javorka, Andrej Gál and others. The festival will conclude with a concert by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marián Lejava, featuring Peter Kolman’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The festival programme will include a total of 20 works receiving their Slovak premieres and nine works receiving their world premieres.
Tickets are available in advance through Ticketportal. A limited number of festival passes covering the entire festival are also available:
https://www.ticketportal.sk/event/Melos-Etos-2026
Subject to availability, tickets can also be purchased at the concert venue one hour before each performance.
PROGRAMME
Tuesday, 3 November 2026 / 19:00 / Moyzes Hall
CONTRASTS
PLATYPUS ENSEMBLE (AT)
Wednesday, 4 November 2026 / 19:00 / Moyzes Hall
SONIC BRIDGES
QUASARS ENSEMBLE (SK)
Thursday, 5 November 2026 / 19:00 / Nová Tržnica
FINE / DEATH SPEAKS
Peter MAZALÁN – Eva ŠUŠKOVÁ – David DANEL – Miloš SLOBODNÍK – Fero KIRÁLY and others (SK)
Friday, 6 November 2026 / 19:00 / Moyzes Hall
CONCENTRATED VOICES
Ondrej VESELÝ (SK)
Saturday, 7 November 2026 / 19:00 / A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture
MULTI_MIDI_YEAH!
EnsembleSpectrum (SK)
Sunday, 8 November 2026 / 18:00 / Moyzes Hall
JOZEF KOLKOVIČ – Magdaléna BAJUSZOVÁ (SK)
Monday, 9 November 2026 / 19:00 / Moyzes Hall
Milan PAĽA & Katarína PAĽOVÁ (SK)
Tuesday, 10 November 2026 / 19:00 / Moyzes Hall
PLACES REDISCOVERED
Andrej GÁL & Peter JAVORKA (SK)
Friday, 13 November 2026 / 19:00 / Slovak Radio’s Grand Concert Studio
CLOSING CONCERT
SLOVAK RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – Marián LEJAVA – Milan PAĽA (SK)
The programme and performers are subject to change.
For more information, visit www.melosetos.sk, Facebook: MELOS-ETHOS, and Instagram: melos_ethos.
The festival is organised by the Music Centre Slovakia, a state-funded organisation established by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. The project is co-funded by the European Union.
The festival’s partners are the French Institute in Slovakia, the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava, A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture, and Nová Tržnica Bratislava.
We also thank our other partners and media partners for their support.
Press contact:
Ivana Schwarz
melosetos@hc.sk
+421 903 453 488