It's Session Time! 20th Jazz Summer at the Handel House

Midsummer Poem

Duo Stefanie Boltz (Munich): Stefanie Boltz (vocals) and Nenad Uskokovic (cello, electric bass, loops)

Midsummer Poem is a musical tribute to what is perhaps the most powerful time of the year: midsummer. When the day seems never-ending and nature showers us with an abundance of images, colours, scents and nourishing sensory experiences. Stefanie Boltz has immersed herself deeply in midsummer to celebrate it with us, using effects sparingly to capture its many facets. ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ grooves by Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’ is a firm favourite, and Mancini’s ‘Slow Hot Wind’, ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘Heat Wave’ transport us into a physical and emotional state of emergency – it is midsummer. Moreover, this time of year grants us the permission, out of pure luxury, to ‘waste’ time, as Otis Redding exemplifies in ‘Sitting on the Dock of a Bay’ (wasting the time away). Yet this prominent time of year can also bring ‘Summertime Sadness’ or ‘Midsummer Melancholy’. If one cannot withstand the superlatives of the outside world, if the sultry heat is overwhelming, then the onset of Summer Rain can be a relief.

Venue: Great Courtyard (rain alternative: Chamber Music Salon)

Food (barbecue) and drinks available in the courtyard 

Tickets: Advance tickets are available online and at the museum ticket office. If the weather is fine, additional tickets will be released on the day of the concert from 5 pm. Advance sales start on 16 June 2026.