Martin Grubinger on the concert stage at the music festival

The Austrian percussionist Martin Grubinger is returning to the stage. Together with artistic director Jan Vogler, he will host the "Night of the Young Stars" at the upcoming Dresden Music Festival on 1 June - and will "also pick up the drumsticks himself once again" alongside up-and-coming young musicians from jazz and classical music, as the organizers announced on Thursday. Grubinger is one of the sponsors of the eight young performers, alongside violinist Daniel Hope, trombonist Nils Landgren, trumpeter Till Brönner and horn player Sarah Willis.

Grubinger, who is one of the most successful soloists among percussionists, had hung up his concert career in the fall of 2023 after 25 years, partly because he preferred to develop new ideas and teach. The 40-year-old had helped to bring his instruments from the back row of orchestras into the spotlight of the classical music world - and said goodbye with one of his last concerts at the Dresden Festival.