Accordion Instrument of the Year 2026 opening event and press conference will be held at the Museum of Musical Instruments of the State Institute of Music Research in Berlin on January 22nd, 2026, at 11am.

The Landesmusikrat Berlin will open the event together with the host Dr. Rebecca Wolf, Director of the State Institute for Music Research. Sarah Wedl-Wilson, Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion, will give a welcoming speech, and will then receive her first lessons on the accordion from Prof. Claudia Buder, the Berlin patron of the accordion year.

Senator, Prof. Claudia Buder sheds light on the role of the accordion in Berlin’s musical life, its significance for amateur music and its artistic perspectives.

Nils Busch-Petersen, Managing Director of the Berlin-Brandenburg Retail Association, together with Dieter Plinke, the Berlin collector of more than 600 accordions, reports on how shopping centres are also setting completely new priorities in the accordion year.

Accordionist Anna-Katharina Schau gives an insight into the possibilities of learning the accordion in Berlin, Philipp Höning invites you to play in the Berlin accordion orchestras.

Dr. Emanuele Marconi, Director of the Museum of Musical Instruments, explains his museum’s current accordion exhibition.

Musical contributions form the framework of the press conference. At the beginning, a Sheng improvisation with Gert Anklam (Sheng) and Prof. Claudia Buder will be heard. Afterwards, Berlin music students will present the work “Behind the Dark Path” by Il-Ryun Chung. For the musical conclusion, the accordion orchestra Euphonia plays the overture from Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”.

The press conference ends around 12:00 p.m. and turns into a small reception.