From June 19th to 27th, 2026, a new event format will premiere as part of the 6th edition of the “Guitar Days in Billstedt.” With a guitar-themed “Tour de Billstedt,” the children and young people of the project will perform short concerts of approximately 30 minutes throughout their neighborhood for a week in various ensembles. Venues include the Billstedt Center, HASPA bank, the library, the multigenerational center, and the Rauhe Haus in the neighboring district of Horn. The week will culminate in a grand concert featuring all the young guitarists on June 27th, 2026, at the Kultur Palast Hamburg.
Guitar Billstedt | The passion for nurturing young musical talent among children and teenagers, and the firm belief that all children can develop equally when given the same opportunities, inspired the "Guitar Billstedt" project. In 2018, the Kultur Palast Hamburg, the St. Paulus and Am Schleemer Park schools, and GitarreHamburg.de gGmbH (a non-profit limited liability company) combined their expertise in education and cultural outreach to establish a functioning orchestral program and sustainable, successful instrumental instruction for children and teenagers. Since then, children have had the opportunity to receive free guitar lessons and play in guitar orchestras. Instruments are also provided free of charge.
Successes | Numerous prizewinners of the "Jugend musiziert" competition have emerged from the project, the junior guitar orchestra "JGOH-Juniorteam Ost" won a prize at the 2024 State Orchestra Competition "Orchestrale," and the children and young people involved in the project have garnered attention through exciting concert performances. Last year, among other things, an entire music theater project was presented on the stage of the Kultur Palast Hamburg: youtu.be/IDR0CmQVCRA
Further information: www.gitarrebillstedt.de
The project sponsor | GitarreHamburg.de gGmbH (a non-profit limited liability company) is the sponsor of several successful projects focused on promoting young guitarists in Hamburg. With the Hamburg Youth Guitar Orchestra (JGOH) and the JGOH Junior Team East, founded in 2020, it organizes three free ensemble opportunities for children and teenagers in Hamburg. This support for young talent is complemented by concerts, courses, and workshops as part of the Hamburg Guitar Days and the Hamburg Guitar Festival. At the heart of its work with young musicians is the Hamburg Youth Guitar Orchestra (JGOH), which brings together Hamburg's best young guitarists. In recent years, its members have won around 350 prizes in the "Jugend musiziert" competition, including numerous first prizes in the national finals. In 2025, the JGOH was awarded first prize in the German Orchestra Competition, and in 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2024, it won first prize four times in a row at the state orchestra competition "Orchestrale." In addition to concerts at the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle, and tours both in Germany and abroad, the young ensemble has garnered attention with six self-produced CD and DVD releases. With the JGOH Junior Teams East and North, it has two of its own junior ensembles, where children can prepare for later participation in the "senior" JGOH.
Further information: www.gitarrehamburg.de
