KLAENG Cologne: Cuban piano, Tanzanian voices and a Saturday worth discovering
by 
Babylon Radio
Listen nowFor a first encounter with Cologne’s experimental music scene, KLAENG offers an intriguing invitation: choose one evening and let three very different performances introduce themselves. The festival returns to Stadtgarten from 20 to 22 November 2026, with Saturday’s programme bringing together David Virelles, Laura Perrudin and The Zawose Queens.
Three reasons to pick Saturday
Cuban pianist and composer David Virelles is this year’s artist in residence. His KLAENG Project pairs piano with Sebastian Gille’s saxophones, Ronny Graupe’s guitar and Robert Landfermann’s double bass. There is deliberately no drummer. It is a chance to hear a group assembled especially for his Cologne and Wuppertal residency, rather than another stop on an unchanged touring programme. Festival programme
French singer and harpist Laura Perrudin supplies a different kind of close listening. Her current project, Tempus, turns towards acoustic strings, including prepared harp and guitar. The album’s credits put her own voice and playing at its centre; her concert calendar confirms the Cologne appearance on 21 November. If your idea of a harp concert is strictly classical, this is an invitation to reconsider. Artist’s album and calendar
Then there are The Zawose Queens: Pendo and Leah Zawose, whose music draws on the Gogo traditions of central Tanzania. Their layered singing and rhythms connect instruments such as the illimba thumb piano, chizeze fiddle and ngoma drums with contemporary electronic textures. Their 2024 debut, Maisha, includes songs in Kigogo and brings the women of the Zawose family to the foreground as lead performers. Listening to a track beforehand gives you a way into the sound without turning the evening into homework. Real World Records’ artist introduction
Plan your evening
Saturday’s concerts start at 19:00 on 21 November, with doors from 18:00. Stadtgarten is at Venloer Straße 40, 50672 Cologne.
The official ticket shop lists standard tickets at €38, reduced tickets at €18 and reserved-seat premium tickets at €46. Reduced admission covers school pupils, students, apprentices and Köln-Pass holders, with proof required at the door. Standard tickets are for a partly seated room with a choice of available seats or standing space, not a guaranteed seat. Saturday tickets
Saturday is one possible introduction, not the whole festival: Friday includes Kris Davis’s trio, while Sunday brings Virelles back for solo piano and features Chris Potter’s trio. The three-day pass is marked sold out, so start with the individual evening you most want to hear. Full programme and ticket links
Top photo: The Zawose Queens from Tanzania performing at WOMAD UK (Charlton Park), 26 July 2024. Photo: Stephen and Helen Jones / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped for display. Archive photograph, not from KLAENG 2026.