Every year since 1975, an International Music Festival that can certainly compete with the more renowned European events of the kind, takes place in the town of Echternach in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Yehudi Menuhin, Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Maurice André, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, to name but a few, have performed here alongside young talent from both Luxembourg and abroad. Music from the baroque, classical, and romantic period is performed, as well as more modern pieces. Indeed, almost every season, living composers are guests of the festival.
 
 

There's hardly another festival which can lay claim to such a delightful setting as the small but historically important border town of Echternach. A genuine feast for both ears and eyes is on offer in the two early medieval churches, the settings for the concerts.
The larger of the two churches, the basilica of St Willibrord, is set in the midst of an 18th Century abbey in the town's historical and cultural centre. The harmonious ensemble, with its crypt from the Carolingian era, has enticed Claude Chabrol to make a film with Cyprien Katsaris, the festival's artistic director.
The other hall, the parish church of St Peter and Paul set on a hillock overlooking the town, is smaller and has a much more intimate ambiente. The buildings trace their origin back to earlier edifices that were given to the monk Willibrord by the abbess Irmina of Trier upon his arrival from Britain in 698 A.D.. These were later turned to religious use.

The town of Echternach is no stranger to the sound of music. From the 8th Century to the French Revolution, Benedictine monks have sung here, and the strains of the Dancing Procession have been heard in these streets for well over 500 years. Thus it comes as no surprise that some idealists - among them the pianist Cyprien Katsaris - have sought to merge music and architecture in these venerable walls, an idea which has fallen on fertile soil and has found many friends and supporters. Witness the honorable committee under the chairmanship of Pierre Werner, the long-term Prime Minister of Luxembourg, with members like Menuhin, Weissenberg, Rostropovitch, André, Hager, and many other famous names from the world of politics and society. Much interest in the festival was shown from over the border in Germany, leading to concerts being held in the nearby town of Bitburg.
 
 

Concert visitors spending a couple of days in Echternach will have ample time to sample the local sights, such as the medieval market place, the gothic town hall, the baroque abbey with its park and rococo pavillion, or the recreation area around the 40 ha (99 acres) lake, in whose vicinity a roman villa of 1.8 ha (4.5 acres) has been excavated in 1976. The forests surrounding Echternach are at the heart of Luxembourg's "Little Switzerland", set in the Germano-Luxembourg Nature Park, and offer the opportunity of extensive walks along the multitude of hiking paths that criss-cross the area. Last but certainly not least, we should mention the numerous Hotels of the area, offering traditional hospitality, as well as Michelin-starred gastronomy.
 
 

A number of exhibitions are showing in the cloisters of Echternach abbey during the time of the festival, and two museums beckon the visitors: The Museum of Prehistory, and the Museum of the Abbey. The latter was opened in 1987 and displays replicas of scriptures made in Echternach. Sadly, the originals of these scriptures are nowadays coveted treasures of museums all over the world, and thus cannot be shown in their place of origin.

Honorable committee:
SANTER Georges, chairman,
ALEX Julien, 1st vice-president, CALTEUX Georges, vice-president, PRIM Eugène, vice-president, MICHELS Léon, treasurer, MEISCH Adrien, président d'honneur

Associated Members:
BRITTEN Ralf, DIEDERICH Marc, FLESCH Colette, ISRAEL Edmond, JUNG Adrien, MEYER Alain, MULLENBACH Alexander, SIETZEN Roger, THIEL Lucien, WALIN Théo, WURTH Pierre, ZIMMER René

Luxembourg Tourist Office - London