Art & Culture

Hamburg – September 08, 2026 -- The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra opens its 2026/27 season on September 4, marking ten years as the resident ensemble of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall. Since the venue opened, the orchestra has performed 654 concerts in its Great Hall, serving as the house's musical core and global ambassador.

Chief conductor calls the orchestra 'the luckiest in the world'

Chief conductor Alan Gilbert credits the hall's flexibility for shaping the ensemble's decade-long identity. "We at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra might be the luckiest orchestra in the world having the Elbphilharmonie as our home," Gilbert said, adding that the space works equally well for full orchestral forces and solo instruments.

New York – September 08, 2026 -- Tickets are now on sale for "Jim Henson's Harmonious Hoopla," a musical revue playing just two nights, Thursday, September 24, 2026, and Friday, September 25, 2026, both at 7:00 PM. The show is part of the Museum of the Moving Image's celebration of Jim Henson's 90th birthday, with tickets available at movingimage.org and discounted pricing for MoMI members.

The production comes from The Jim Henson Company and Heather Henson, pulling songs from across the Henson universe, including Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Houston – September 08, 2026 -- A Houston plastic surgeon is applying decades-old principles of classical sculpture to modern body-contouring procedures, arguing that anatomy and artistry must work together for safe, natural-looking results.

Dr. Emmanuel De La Cruz studies proportion and shadow before ever entering the operating room

Emmanuel De La Cruz, MD, founder of De La Cruz Plastic Surgery and a double board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, says his years studying classical portrait and figurative sculpture shape how he approaches liposuction and body contouring. "Sculpture changed the way I see the human body," De La Cruz said. "You begin seeing how every contour flows into the next."

Seoul – September 07, 2026 -- Tickets for the K-Royal Culture Festival Fall 2026 go on sale starting noon on Sept. 4 through the Ticketlink website, opening access to five days of performances, exhibitions and historical reenactments across four royal palaces and Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul.

The festival, hosted by the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Korea Heritage Service and organized by the Korea Heritage Agency, runs Oct. 7-11 at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung Palaces. The spring 2026 edition drew roughly 725,000 visitors, a record for the event.

Llantrisant – September 07, 2026 -- The Royal Mint has launched two commemorative 50 pence coins marking 60 years of Star Trek, with the first design going on sale September 3 and priced at £19.95.

The first coin features the Vulcan salute alongside the phrases "Live Long & Prosper" and "Star Trek 60"

It marks the first time an image from the original Star Trek series has appeared on a UK 50p coin. A second coin, arriving in November, depicts four starships spanning different eras of the franchise -- the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, the Enterprise NCC-1701-D, and a Klingon Bird of Prey -- paired with the inscription "Star Trek 60."

Grand Rapids – September 07, 2026 -- Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will reopen ENLIGHTEN Presented by PNC Bank on Nov. 23, running through Jan. 10, 2027, with member ticket sales starting Sept. 1 and public sales beginning Sept. 8.

The third season of the immersive holiday light experience guides guests along a one-mile outdoor path from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on select evenings, featuring sculptures synchronized with music and lighting.

A reimagined midway stop highlights Mark di Suvero's Scarlatti sculpture

At the midpoint of the walking path, Scarlatti by Mark di Suvero returns with new lighting, music and choreography. The stop also includes a warming tent, firepits, and food and beverage options for visitors.

Munich -- German broadcaster ARD is marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with three new productions: a primetime documentary, a special broadcast, and an investigative podcast series.

A 90-minute documentary revisits New York's last carefree summer before the attacks

"SEPTEMBER," directed by Johan von Mirbach and produced by WDR, contrasts the everyday lives of New Yorkers during the summer of 2001 -- shaped by Fashion Week and the US Open -- with the parallel preparations of the 19 hijackers. The film combines personal testimonies with previously unpublished archive footage and interviews with voices from politics, media, and security agencies. It is streaming now on ARD Mediathek and airs on Das Erste on September 11 at 8:15 p.m.

Hamburg – September 7, 2026 -- Casio Computer Co., Ltd. unveiled the European premiere of its digital sound source "Akiko's Piano" at the Martha Argerich Festival 2026, held in Hamburg, Germany, from June 20 to 30, 2026.

The original piano survived the Hiroshima bombing

The upright piano at the center of the project was built in 1926 and damaged in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Restored in 2005, it has since been played by musicians including Martha Argerich and has carried a message of peace through its sound.

Casio recorded all 88 keys to preserve the instrument digitally

To carry the piano's historic tone into the future, Casio's European subsidiary, CASIO Europe GmbH, led a project that meticulously recorded the sound of each of the piano's 88 keys and rebuilt it as a digital sound source.

Salt Lake City – September 07, 2026 -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened reservations for tours of the renovated Salt Lake Temple ahead of a six-month public celebration running April 5 to October 1, 2027.

The celebration carries the theme "Rejoice in Christ"

Church leaders announced the theme at a media event held at the new West Temple Entrance Building on Temple Square. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, chair of the Salt Lake Temple Executive Committee, said the church wanted to invite people of any background to "come and see and love Jesus Christ and the people who come here."

The same phrase has also been chosen as the church's 2027 youth theme, drawn from Philippians 4:4. Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman said the shared theme will connect youth worldwide to the celebration and to temple worship more broadly.

Hamburg -- The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg marks its tenth anniversary on January 11, 2027, and the concert hall has released figures showing its impact on the city's cultural life. Annual attendance at classical concerts in Hamburg has tripled since the venue opened.

7.4 million visitors have attended 6,400 concerts and events inside the hall.

A further 29.5 million people have visited the Plaza, the public viewing platform positioned 37 meters above the ground. Ten years after opening, the Grand Hall is currently running at 96 percent capacity.

The venue has hosted 130 world premieres over the past decade.

Programming spans classical repertoire alongside jazz, non-European musical traditions, pop, electronic music and contemporary composition. What was once a construction project criticized during its build-out has become a fixture for international orchestras, artists and visitors.