ME_MMIX, Palma’s festival of experimental and avant-garde music, has announced its 2026 programme, with performances by Niño de Elche, violinist Irvine Arditti and Mallorcan musician Joan Miquel Oliver among the highlights.
Dates and venues
The festival runs from 12 to 22 November at venues across Palma, including Can Campaner, the Teatre Principal and the Es Baluard museum.
Highlights
- Irvine Arditti: the British violinist, founder of the Arditti Quartet and one of the leading performers of contemporary music, opens the festival.
- Ensemble Phace: on 13 November, the Austrian ensemble presents a film-concert of The City Without Jews, with music by Olga Neuwirth, conducted by Nacho de Paz.
- Niño de Elche and Héctor Cavallaro: the flamenco singer and experimental artist presents a project built around the music of Morton Feldman.
- Joan Miquel Oliver, Joana Gomila and Laia Vallès: three Mallorcan artists join forces in a collaboration developed with a local creative centre.
Electronic music
This edition puts a stronger focus on electronic music. The French artist Franck Vigroux, known for combining electroacoustic textures, industrial noise and contemporary composition, performs on 19 November, and there will be four further electronic sessions.
Pasolini at Es Baluard
A show inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s unfinished novel Petrolio will end with a “Pasolinian rave” at Es Baluard.
Before the festival
The festival has partnered with Red Carpet, an artistic residency and recording studio in Lloret de Vistalegre, to hold a concert combining music and wine tasting on 20 August. The festival’s artistic director, Mateu Malondra, has also taken part in meetings with other contemporary music festivals in Spain on how to bring new music to wider audiences.
Why it matters
ME_MMIX has become one of the main platforms for contemporary and experimental music in the Balearics, bringing international performers to the island and connecting them with local artists. For audiences, it offers the chance to hear music that rarely reaches the islands — from contemporary string repertoire to noise and electronic performance.
