About
The Tsinandali Festival 2026 invites audiences to the historic Tsinandali Estate in Georgia's renowned Kakheti wine region for eleven days of exceptional classical music. From 3 to 13 September 2026, this remarkable festival transforms one of the country's most beautiful cultural landmarks into an international gathering where celebrated musicians, outstanding young talent, and audiences from around the world come together in an atmosphere of artistic excellence and cultural exchange.
Established with the vision of connecting Europe and Asia through the universal language of music, the festival has quickly become one of the leading classical music events in the region. At its heart is the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra, bringing together gifted young musicians from across the Caucasus under the guidance of some of today's most distinguished conductors and soloists.
The 2026 programme features an exceptional lineup of internationally acclaimed artists. Festival Music Director Gianandrea Noseda leads the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra in two major symphonic evenings alongside violinist Lisa Batiashvili, performing Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, before returning later in the festival with legendary violinist and violist Pinchas Zukerman for Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
Chamber music plays an equally important role throughout the festival. Audiences can enjoy performances by Sergei Babayan, Sayaka Shoji, Amanda Forsyth, Ori Kam, Kian Soltani, Marc-André Hamelin, Ilya Gringolts, Alexander Malofeev, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Raphaël Feuillâtre, and the internationally acclaimed Schumann Quartet, presenting programmes that span Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Franck, Chausson, Chopin, Liszt, and many other masterpieces of the chamber repertoire.
One of the festival's most significant orchestral events is Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection", conducted by Rafael Payare, featuring soprano Chen Reiss, mezzo-soprano Okka von der Damerau, the Tbilisi Zakaria Paliashvili Opera and Ballet State Theatre Chorus, and the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra. The programme also includes Peter Brook's celebrated adaptation La Tragédie de Carmen, expanding the festival's artistic landscape beyond the concert stage.
Surrounded by vineyards, historic gardens, and the former residence of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, the Tsinandali Estate provides a setting unlike any conventional concert venue. Every recital and orchestral performance becomes part of a wider cultural experience where music, history, architecture, and Georgian hospitality come together naturally.
About the Tsinandali Festival
Tsinandali Festival is a Georgian non-profit foundation. It's primary focus is on promoting the language of music in the Region, the crossroads of Europe and Asia. The Festival draws some of the greatest performers, conductors, composers, music scholars and artists from around the globe to Tsinandali. The Festival is designed to create rare opportunities for young musicians from the Caucasus and the neighboring countries to explore the world of music and advance their musical education through professional seminars and masterclasses taught by some of the brightest names in today’s classical music. The Tsinandali Festival was launched on the 8th of September 2019 with its first edition and will be held annually.
The venue for the event will be a small Kakhetian village - Tsinandali, which is famous for its centuries - old winemaking traditions and where the legendary estate of the princes Chavchavadze, which for centuries was a popular place-the center of secular and cultural life of the country. It was here that famous travelers stayed, from Pushkin to Dumas, it was here that European music first sounded in Georgia. Thus, the festival continues the cultural tradition of the estate of princes Chavchavadze in Tsinandali and gives it a new dimension of the center of world classical music.
Gianandrea Noseda is a Music Director of Tsinandali Festival. Maestro Noseda is one of the world’s most sought-after conductors, equally recognized for his artistry in both the concert hall and opera house. Since 2017, Noseda has served as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. He is Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Orquesta de Cadaqués, and Artistic Director of the Stresa Festival in Stresa, Italy. On July 2, 2018, it was announced that Maestro Noseda was appointed next General Music Director of the Zurich Opera House and he shall start his engagement there in 2021.
Concerts of orchestral and chamber music are held annually for 15 days in the Chamber Music Hall and in the Amphitheater, specially built for the festival. The festival was attended by dozens of world-class stars as Gianandrea Noseda, Yuja Wang, Sir Andras Schiff, Fazil say and Gotye Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Thomas Hampson, Lisa Batiashvili, Pinchas Zukerman Chamber Orchestra Festival Barbie etc.
