“There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown” writes Nobel Prize-winning author Elias Canetti. The unknown is not far away. It lies within our own bodies, which are changing. In the subconscious, which pushes its way to the surface. In nature, from which we take more than it can give. In relationships that seem familiar and change overnight. In political orders that were thought to be immutable and suddenly collapse.

There is a great fear of the unknown: borders are being secured, the foreign is being excluded, faith is being turned into law, and the body is being optimised as if it were something that could be controlled. But what happens when one allows oneself to be touched?

The MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN are dedicating their tenth edition to encounters with the unknown. This includes music that audiences have not yet heard.

We invite you to join us from 16 to 27 September 2026. To St Stephen’s Cathedral, the Favoriten Water Tower, the Odeon, the MuTh, the Hamakom Theatre, the Theater am Werk, the WUK, and the LOT. Into the unknown.