Since 1988 Bremen Music Festival has been offering its guests classical music and more – from early music to contemporary sounds. The festival traditionally opens with its brilliant Eine Grosse Nachtmusik – a 'concert buffet' of 24 different performances held in and around Bremen's UNESCO-listed market square. The Musikfest Surprise series in Bremen's Überseestadt district brings together world music from all five continents. And for some local colour, why not drop in on the Arp Schnitger festival, dedicated to the famous German organ builder?

From early spring until right into December, Saxon Switzerland uses music to showcase itself as a region. As part of the Sandstone & Music Festival, this lovely corner of Saxony is combining its most famous natural feature – bizarre sandstone formations – with a series of incredibly diverse concerts. Parks and baroque gardens, palaces, castles, churches and even a stone quarry have all become concert halls in this scenery characterised by sandstone.