In this edition of Club9, we talk with Dr. Verena Frey, artistic director of the Ausseer Barocktage, about the 2026 festival and its programme of early music, historical performance and musical encounters.

The festival brings together musicians from different countries and musical traditions. We talk about Fahmi Alqhai and his Accademia del Piacere, and Alba Carmona, the Spanish Flamenco singer, whose music creates a dialogue between early Spanish Baroque music and the living tradition of Flamenco.

We also discuss the Flute Duo of Renate Linortner and Aniela Frey, together with Toni Burger, Sebastian Rastl and Robert Schröter, representing the Austrian musical scene and the connection with the Ausseerland.

From Italy, the programme features Concerto di Margherita with Francesca Benetti, bringing the sounds of Italian Renaissance music into the festival.

Verena Frey tells us about the concerts and their different locations, the importance of historical instruments, and how musicians from Spain, Italy and the Ausseerland come together in the festival programme.

We also talk about local support and participation, and about the idea of dialogue—between different musical styles, between international artists and local musicians, and between the Ausseer Barocktage and the Beethoven Plus Festival, another important musical initiative within the same community.

A conversation about early music, international collaboration, local cultural life and the many forms a musical dialogue can take.

Club9 – aired live at Freies Radio Salzkammergut on 30 July 2026.