The Crescendo Annual Theme for 2026-2027
UNITED AND UNIQUE
FOR US
as ministry
This year is about deeply understanding and internalizing the rich heritage we have received, so that we can authentically translate it for our generation and the current needs of the artistic world, expressing it through the unique talents of our staff members and teams.
FOR YOU
whether you are an artist, a local Crescendo Ministry leader, patron of the arts, or just getting familiar with our ministry, here are some initial thoughts about the topic, which we will unpack later step by step.
Identity & Belonging
True belonging is reciprocal—discovering where your unique voice fits while both serving and being supported by your community.
Action Points:
Identify one talent you can use to encourage a peer this week.
Reach out to your local creative group to share a current struggle.
Roots & Innovation
Grounding yourself in heritage and spiritual roots gives you the foundation to create relevant art for today’s world.
Action Points:
Write down two core values from your background that shape your art.
Adapt an old piece, theme, or concept to address a modern need.
Competition vs. Harmony
Moving from high-pressure, isolated striving to a collaborative environment where artists are supported rather than compared.
Action Points:
Identify who stands alongside you and express gratitude to them.
Ask a fellow artist directly how you can support their current project.
Local Identity & Global Impact
Embracing your specific regional culture, environment, and personal story as a unique artistic asset.
Action Points:
Incorporate a local tradition, melody, or story into your next project.
Connect with a local community space to showcase your work.
Bridging Cultures & Divide through Art
Using music and art as bridges to cross language, social, and cultural barriers, uniting separated communities.
Action Points:
Collaborate with an artist from a different cultural or social background.
Perform or share your work in a setting outside your usual audience circle.
Rest & Performance
Resisting burnout by treating silence, solitude, and rest as essential creative dimensions rather than lost productivity.
Action Points:
Schedule one dedicated block of uninterrupted silence or digital disconnect this week.
Audit your current creative pace and identify one boundary to protect your long-term creative fire.
Share Your Thoughts
Exploring the theme United and Unique together through shared dialogue and questions.
Action Points:
Send us your questions or insights on these topics via email: info@crescendointernational.org
Sign up to our bi-weekly inspirational thoughts for artists:
Tune INs hereIn our upcoming gatherings, prayer hours, and concerts, we hope to create spaces where we can begin to unpack these topics together and see how they resonate in our lives.
Explore With Us at Our Events
September 9., Budapest, Hungary
Crescendo Picnic
While the Crescendo Summer Institute (CSI) in Tokaj is our flagship summer event, Crescendo Hungary keeps the momentum going all year long through local gatherings that bring together our alumni, faculty, participants, and supporters. As we transition into autumn, the next season of Crescendo Hungary is launching!
We hope to see you there. Let’s kick off our year-round events together!
📅Date: September 9, 2026 (Wednesday), from 4:30 PM
📍Location: Városliget (City Park), the lawn next to the Ethnographic Museum. Look for the Crescendo roll-up banner to guide the way!
September 11., Leipzig, Germany
Play & Pray Leipzig
We pray by improvising with our instruments and voices, sometimes also incorporating other forms of artistic expression such as dance and painting. You are warmly invited to this contemplative yet highly creative time of prayer.
📅Date: September 11., from 10:00 AM
Location: Catholic Church, Ossietzkystraße 60, 04347 Leipzig.
(We meet every 2–4 weeks)
More informationSeptember 11., Leipzig, Germany
Vernissage Find Out
Musical Performance at the Opening of Artist Christoph Hampel’s Exhibition “Find Out” at the Tuffner Furniture Gallery.
The international Crescendo Ensemble will use the displayed paintings as inspiration for improvisations, bringing the artwork to life through sound. The colors on the canvas transform into musical timbres—connecting visual and auditory art into an emotional, spontaneous experience created in the moment.
Date & Time: September 11, 2026, at 6:00 PM
Location: Möbelgalerie Tuffner, Am Walkgraben 13, 09119 Chemnitz
September 13, 2026, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Twin Cities Hub Meeting: Connection
Date & Time: Sep 13, 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Crescendo fellowship in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Interested? Email hub leader Angela Hanson at crescendotwincities@gmail.com.
September 14., Stuttgart, Germany
Crescendo Gathering in Stuttgart
A space for professional music and art professionals: to encourage one another, enjoy inspiring community, and exchange thoughts on topics of Christian faith and daily professional-artistic life.
Date & Time: September 14., 21., 28., 2026, at 17:15
Location: Stuttgart
September 16., Basel, Switzerland
Soundblessing – Play & Pray
The Holy Spirit inspires us to express in musical freedom what is on His heart. We love discovering new sounds and harmonies without sheet music or prior arrangements, bringing them together into a unified whole. Come by and soak it in!
These prayer times are organized in collaboration with the HOP-Basel House of Prayer.
📍 Location: HOP Basel, Margarethenstrasse 103, 4053 Basel, Switzerland
More informationSeptember 19., Zum Dorfteich, Germany
Auf, Seele! (Rouse Yourself, O Soul!)
Thanksgiving Improvisation Concert with Sacred Texts, Hymns, and Classical Masterpieces
We invite you to a unique musical experience combining classical music and improvisations inspired by sacred texts on harvest and fruitfulness.
The Crescendo Ensemble takes its listeners on a musical journey where biblical texts come to life through sound. Familiar hymns and pieces by famous composers will surprise you in this unique setting, featuring voice, viola, and piano in various configurations.
Date & Time: Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7:00 PM)
Location: Zum Dorfteich 13, 04769 Mügeln – Querbitzsch (Mehner)
September 20., Zürich, Switzerland
Sound Blessing
We offer a personal Sound Blessing for anyone who desires it and takes a seat with us.
Expressed through tones and sounds, freely improvised using our instruments and voices.
You can find more information about the Sound Blessing [here].
Curious? Simply stop by and experience it for yourself!
When: Sunday, September 20, 11.00 AM (after the church service)
Where: Citykirche Offener St. Jakob, Stauffacherstrasse 8/10, 8004 Zürich
September 25., Zürich, Switzerland
Sound Blessing
We offer a personal Sound Blessing for anyone who desires it and takes a seat with us.
Expressed through tones and sounds, freely improvised using our instruments and voices.
You can find more information about the Sound Blessing [here].
Curious? Simply stop by and experience it for yourself!
When: Friday, September 25, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Where: Grossmünster Zurich, Zwingliplatz 7, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland
October 9., Akron, OH, USA
CREATED TO CREATE:
A Crescendo Cleveland Night of Jazz
Created to Create is a jazz concert exploring faith, creation, and community through exceptional music, Scripture, and personal testimony.
Professional jazz musicians in Greater Cleveland have expressed a hunger for opportunities to create meaningful art that reflects their faith. While jazz has a rich tradition of storytelling and personal expression, few performance spaces welcome conversations about faith.
Crescendo Cleveland offers a unique opportunity to hear jazz with deeper meaning. Presented by a 7-piece ensemble of established, renowned professional musicians from the Greater Cleveland area, this evening tells a story of faith, creation, and community through exceptional music, Scripture, and personal testimony. Join us on Friday, October 9th!
This program is led by Shannon Eller (vocals), featuring:
Dave Banks – trumpet | Bob Esterle – saxophone
Billy Joe Wiseman – guitar | Richard Moore – drums
Dan Nauss – bass | Alex Hoyt – piano
Doors Open: 7:00pm | Show: 8:00pm
This event is ticketed. Tickets can be purchased through the BLU Jazz+ website or at the door.
Tickets: General Admission ($20 in advance, $25 at the door)
Any questions, contact us at CrescendoNorthAmerica@cru.org
TicketsPrevious events
April 24-26, Leipzig
PERSONANZ 26: IN YOUR MIDST
The crescendo Inspiration Festival for professional musicians and artists in the music city of Leipzig.
Luke 17:20-21: “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is!” or “There it is!” because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’”
The kingdom of God is in our midst—invisible, yet clearly perceptible. It is right in the heart of our everyday lives, yet interwoven with eternity. It is active in our creative work, even when we are performing our tasks in the most unspectacular ways.
It is among us, yet it points far beyond us. We are integrated into its expansion and called to live as its ambassadors.
This is what PERSONANZ 26 is all about: the kingdom of God and its resonance in our lives and our work.
PERSONANZ is organized and hosted by Crescendo Germany:
April 19, Basel
CREATIVE CHURCH: GIVING OUR BEST
KIRCHE KREATIV: SEIN BESTES GEBEN
Experience an extraordinary worship service:
We are thrilled to welcome World Snowboard Paralympic silver medalist Romy Tschopp,
alongside the exquisite sounds of chamber music award winners Jenny Armor and David Liam Roberts.
Join us for this unique Creative Church service—a fusion of powerful testimony and breathtaking performance.
May 1, Zürich
Improvisation Workshop with Dr. Pauliina Haustein
A special day full of inspiration, sound, and community.
Together with improvisation lecturer Dr. Pauliina Haustein, we will explore the art of improvisation.
We aim to expand our repertoire and discover new ways to express ourselves musically.
7 November 2025, HUTTWIL
PrixPlus 2025
ARTS+ PRIX PLUS AWARD 2025 PANEL about “Art on the Countryside” MEETING with Artists (Crescendo is part of ARTS+ Switzerland and International)
19-31 July, 2026, HUNGARY
Crescendo Summer Institute
CSI (Crescendo Summer Institute) is a 12-day masterclass intended for devoted students from 14 years, for students at music academies, conservatories, as well as for young emerging professionals. Professional artists and teachers are also welcome to develop their skills.
Read more09 Nov, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST Cleveland, USA
Creative Church in Cleveland
Join us for Creative Church, an arts-rich worship gathering blending music, beauty, and the gospel to reach hearts and bless listeners. Featuring musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra and renowned jazz artists from our local community.
11 November, 7pm, Buenos Aires
Creative Church
Venue: Baptist Seminary
crescendo. more than music.
We network, inspire and strengthen professional dancers and musicians in classical music and jazz so that their art, their lives, and their spirituality can inspire each other and create resonance spaces for God.
Network
Artists
are often lonely | need inspiration
encouragement | want to connect
share need prayer | move
perform | organize | create
Support
By organising
master courses | mentoring and counselling
retreats | prayer groups |
books and study materials | crescendo lounges
Tune INs | Crescendo Summer Institute
Reach Out
Through
Concerts | art festivals | jam sessions | books
lectures | conferences | Crescendo Forum
Night of Faith | festival for Art and Church
Serve
Churches | Christian ministries and people through art and music
Creative Church | Play and Pray
Candle lit worship | ARTS+
Violinkids | Music Road Rwanda
Networking… is vital for every artist
The Crescendo network spans the globe and is constantly growing!
We offer you the opportunity to join a global network by registering with us. Our CMD is open to all professional musicians and dancers free of charge. It is a worldwide database designed to help you find and interact with like-minded colleagues from around the world.