Classics meet Accordion - Salzkammergut Festival Weeks Gmunden

Johanna Dumfart | Diatonic Accordion
Philipp Lakinger | Diatonic Accordion
Marcel Mölschl | Diatonic Accordion
Fabian Danzl | Diatonic Accordion

Four musicians – a harmonious quartet – and a shared vision: to create music that connects, touches, and opens new perspectives. The diatonic accordion has undergone an astonishing development in recent years. It has long outgrown its niche in folk music and has found its place on large concert stages. Instrument makers and composers are continuously expanding its sonic spectrum, and education is booming – even reaching university programs. A new generation of young artists is impressively demonstrating how versatile, demanding, and expressive this instrument can be.

On stage are four influential personalities of this movement: Johanna Dumfart, Philipp Lakinger, Marcel Mölschl, and Fabian Danzl. Together, they showcase how the diatonic accordion becomes a musical bridge-builder – between folk and art music, between tavern and concert hall, between heritage and future.

The starting point of their program is composers with a biographical connection to the Salzkammergut, but the repertoire extends far beyond that: from piano pieces to choral arrangements, works from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Late Romantic periods are performed – interpreted exclusively on the diatonic accordion in newly conceived arrangements.

The focus is not on folk music, but on a conscious engagement with the classical music tradition – sensitively transferred to an instrument that has long been closed off from this world. "Classics Meet Accordion" builds on the successful programs Franz, Johannes, and Roots, which have delighted audiences both in concert halls and on television – and continues this idea: to present classical music in a surprising sonic form, approachable, vibrant, and full of heart.