Full house at the New Year's concert

He also thanked Sparkasse Münsterland Ost, without whose financial support the city's New Year's concert would not be possible in its now established setting.

The New Year's concert, which was performed by the festival:philharmonie westfalen under the direction of Viennese conductor Michael Zlabinger, featured a festive birthday programme. The evening was dedicated to the great Viennese composer Johann Strauss Sohn, who was born in 1825.

The concert evening opened with Richard Wagner's overture to the opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" - a piece that, according to research by the cultural office, has never been performed in Beckum before. The programme continued with "6 German Dances" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the "Gratulations-Menuett" by Ludwig van Beethoven, a polonaise by Franz Schubert, the "Jubel-Quadrille" by Johann Strauss Vater and a waltz by Joseph Lanner. The first part of the concert, which was entitled "The Well-wishers", already got the audience going, and shouts of enthusiasm were heard again and again.

The second part of the concert after the interval was dedicated entirely to the jubilarian and his compositions. Pieces from the operetta "Die Fledermaus" and two polkas, brilliantly performed by the orchestra, which is made up of musicians from over 20 nations, led into the Strauss part of the concert. In addition to the well-known waltzes and polkas by Johann Strauss Sohn, such as the Emperor Waltz and the Tik-Tak Polka, the guest appearance by violinist Dmytro Udovychenko was one of the highlights of the concert evening. The 25-year-old is currently one of the most important young talents in the world. Born in the Ukraine, he recently won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, one of the most prestigious international music competitions of all. The Beckum audience celebrated Dmytro Udovychenko's performance frenetically.

The four encores, which the audience demanded standing, clapping and stomping, prove that the concert was a great success. At the end, the conductor handed over the baton to the mayor, who bid the audience farewell by conducting the Radetzky March.

The date for the 2026 New Year's Concert has been finalised
The City of Beckum's cultural office is already receiving ticket requests for the 2026 New Year's Concert. And a date has already been set: the 2026 New Year's Concert will take place on Sunday, 18 January 2026, with ticket sales for the concert starting immediately after the summer holidays.