Konstantin Ishkhanov: ModComFest 2026 Dedicated to Max Richter Will Take Place in Spain

The acclaimed Modern Composers International Music Festival (ModComFest), led by its President, Konstantin Ishkhanov, will return in September 2026 with a new edition that places the music of Max Richter at the heart of its programme, continuing the festival’s mission of giving contemporary composers the visibility, context, and global attention that their work deserves.

Taking place from the 15th to the 23rd of the month in the Spanish city of Barcelona, this latest iteration of ModComFest will be hosted in the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Palau de la Música Catalana, two of the most storied venues in the city. Audiences will be presented with a total of six concerts in all, intentionally designed to offer a broad perspective of Richter’s oeuvre across the span of the composer’s career. 

I am very pleased to be part of this latest edition of Modern Composers International Festival”, Richter said. “Festivals like this offer a rare setting in which music can be experienced not as something isolated, but as part of a wider exchange between composers, performers, venues, and audiences. I have always felt that music finds its deepest resonance when it is encountered through different contexts and perspectives, and this festival reflects that idea beautifully, bringing several works together within a single shared artistic journey. I hope these performances invite listeners to engage closely, to find moments of stillness and reflection, and to discover their own personal connection with the music, allowing it to speak to them in their own way.”

Indeed, the festival will open with a chamber music series at the Hospital de Sant Pau, where Richter’s works will be performed by a distinguished group of international musicians. Among the artists taking part are violinists Marc Bouchkov (Belgium), Lir Vaginsky (Israel), Miguel Colom (Spain), and María Florea (Spain); violists Diemut Poppen (Germany) and Joaquin Riquelme García (Spain); cellists Sebastian Klinger (Spain) and Alexander Chaushian (United Kingdom); double bassist Yamila Pedrosa (Spain); pianists Giuliano Mazzoccante (Italy) and Sofia Raichenko (Belgium); flautist Albert Mora (Spain); and clarinettist Josep Fuster (Spain), to mention a few.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Bouchkov described the project as “a wonderful opportunity to approach Max Richter’s music in a concentrated and meaningful way”, adding that “it is very important to celebrate not just the music of the past but also the masters of the present, who are creating wonderful works in our own age!”

Chaushian, meanwhile, also welcomed the chance to be part of the programme, noting that “ModComFest offers something very valuable, because it allows audiences and musicians alike to spend time with a composer’s world. Richter’s music has a rare ability to feel intimate and universal at the same time, and I think this festival will show that beautifully.”

Following the chamber concerts, ModComFest 2026 will then move to the Palau de la Música Catalana, where there will be three orchestral performances, featuring the Franz Schubert Filharmonia, with María Florea appearing as both violin soloist and conductor. These concerts will bring Richter’s music into a larger symphonic setting, with a particular focus on his famous work, Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, along with pieces by both Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.

Through these performances, Konstantin Ishkhanov and ModComFest itself are continuing with their mission of championing a vision of classical music as a living, evolving art form, and  one that honours its past while also giving space to the voices defining its present.

For more information, the latest updates about the Festival, Max Richter or Konstantin Ishkhanov, visit the official ModComFest 2026 website at maxrichter.modcomfest.com.

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