NCC East Friday, April 24, 2026, 5:45 p.m. Almost a tradition by now: for the third time, the first day of the akustika exhibition will conclude with a concert by the Nuremberg University of Music, which will highlight in a special way the tonal diversity, richness of color, and virtuosity of one of the most important instruments in Western musical culture. On ten grand pianos, one of the most famous sunrises in music history will be heard, beginning with the introduction from Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra. The radiant C major with its fanfare-like opening motif, which since Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey has been a symbol of the auratic power of music in the visual medium and has since been used in hundreds of films, television, and radio broadcasts, also forms a bridge to a work by Ravel, namely the Rhapsodie espagnole. Ravel, whose mother was Baskin, had an associatively idealized connection to Spanish folklore. In the Feria, the last of the four movements, the music swells into a dazzling firework display, concluding the work—along with whole-tone interludes—with a triumphant C major. The Rhapsodie espagnole, published in 1907, will be performed in the form of a promenade concert, in its original version for two pianos. The rhythmic element of the Rhapsody will be taken up by the percussion ensemble. From different floors, they will frame the piano performance on level 2 with echoing pieces and improvisations. The percussion sounds will resonate throughout the hall in a kind of dialogue.