ModComFest 2026, Dedicated to Max Richter, Opens in Barcelona with Star-studded Concert
For its opening concert, ModComFest assembled an international group of musicians comprising of violinists Miguel Colom (Spain) and María Florea (Spain), violist Joaquin Riquelme García (Spain), cellist Sebastian Klinger (Spain), pianists Giuliano Mazzoccante (Italy) and Sofia Raichenko (Belgium), flautist Albert Mora (Spain), and clarinettist Josep Fuster (Spain). Together, they launched the chamber portion of the festival with a programme that placed Richter’s contemporary musical language alongside works from the established classical repertoire.
Indeed, the evening began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478, before turning its attention firmly towards this year’s dedicatee. Three works by Richter followed, starting with The Blue Notebooks for solo piano, after which came Testament for piano quintet, and In the Garden for piano quintet. After the interval, the programme concluded with Francis Poulenc’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15.
The concert also offered an early demonstration of the range of Richter’s writing, allowing audiences to encounter several facets of the composer’s musical voice within a single evening. This concentrated approach lies at the heart of ModComFest 2026, which has been conceived as an in-depth exploration of Richter’s music rather than a series of isolated appearances within otherwise unrelated programmes.
Reflecting on the significance of this year’s edition, Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of ModComFest, noted that “there is something very special about seeing the first notes of a festival come to life, particularly when an edition has been prepared with so much care and anticipation. To open here in Barcelona, in the remarkable surroundings of the Hospital de Sant Pau, and to begin our journey through Max Richter’s music with such an exceptional group of artists has been tremendously rewarding, and I am very excited to see that journey continue and develop over the days to come.”
With the opening concert now behind us, further chamber performances are set to follow on the 16th and 19th of September, before ModComFest moves to the Palau de la Música Catalana for three orchestral evenings from the 21st to the 23rd September, featuring the Franz Schubert Filharmonia and conductor María Florea.
