Category: Stamps

New Stamps 2026

Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.

03.03.2026 Turkey / San Marino / Japan

05.03.2026 France Antarctica

07.03.2026 Guinea Bissau / Belgium / Spain / French Polynesia

09.03.2026 Malaysia / Bulgaria

17.03.2026 Romania / Brazil

19.03.2026 Turkey

21.03.2026 Serbia / Guinea / India

25.03.2026 Italy / Turkey

01.04.2026 Liechtenstein / Belgium / Russia

 

 

 

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Planned issues 2026 (members only)

Stamp of the Month: April 2026

75 years of the Concours Reine Elisabeth


Belgium 15.3.2026
Elisabeth Gabriele Valérie Marie, Duchess in Bavaria, was born on July 25, 1876, in Possenhofen on Lake Starnberg. As the wife of Prince Albert of Belgium, she became Queen of Belgium upon his accession to the throne in 1909. Elisabeth was very musically gifted. She played the violin daily, studying under the composer and violinist Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931).
Eugène Ysaÿe conceived the idea for a competition for young musicians. After his death, Elisabeth took over the planning of the competition in 1931, which was first held in 1937 under the name “Concours Eugène Ysaÿe.” The first prize winner was David Oistrakh (1908–1974). After the Second World War, the competition was renamed “Concours Reine Elisabeth” in 1951. The competition, held under the patronage of the reigning Belgian queen, is today one of the most prestigious international music competitions. It takes place every four years, with the featured instrument category changing annually; since 2025, the order has been violin, piano, cello, and voice.

Belgium 15.9.1937
The current postage stamp commemorates not only the 75th anniversary of the Queen Elisabeth Competition but also the 150th anniversary of the Queen’s birth, who died in Brussels on November 23, 1965.
 

The video features Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko (born 1999), winner of the 2024 competition, and the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by Antony Hermus, performing Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77.

New Stamps 2025

Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.
 

7.2.26: Central African Republic
15.2.26: Albania / France / Lithuania
16.2.26: Djibouti / Guinea / Sierra Leone
21.2.26: Azerbaijan / Guinea
21.3.26: France / Guinea / Guinea-Bissau / Isle of Man / Mongolia / Serbia / Suriname

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Stamp of the Month: March 2026

Peter Benoit
The Belgian composer Peter Leonardus Benoit was born on August 17, 1834, in Harelbeke. He died on March 8, 1901, in Antwerp. March 2026 will mark the 125th anniversary of his death.
 
Peter Benoit studied at the Brussels Conservatory from 1851 to 1855. Even during his studies, he composed a number of works, including the opera “The Village in the Mountains” for the Théâtre Royal du Parc, where he became conductor after graduating. In 1857, Benoit was awarded the Belgian Prix de Rome for his cantata “Le Meurtre d’Abel.” The prize enabled him to undertake an extensive tour with extended stays in Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich. In 1861, he became conductor of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, founded by Jacques Offenbach.


Belgium 1.6.1934
In 1867, he was appointed director of the Flemish Music School (Vlaamsche Muziekschool) in Antwerp, where he further developed his idea of ​​creating an independent Flemish musical language, untouched by foreign influences. Benoit is thus considered one of the first representatives of the European movement of musical nationalism. His compositional output consists primarily of stage works, cantatas, oratorios, and sacred music.
 

The video shows Belgian pianist Emmy Wils (*1994) performing Fantasy No. 3, Op. 18,
from a series of four piano works composed by Peter Benoit around 1860 in Paris.

Stamp of the Month: February 2026

Lily Pons

USA 10.9.1997
The French-American coloratura
soprano Lily Pons (Alice Joséphine Pons) was born on April 12, 1898, in Draguignan, near Cannes. She died 50 years ago, on February 13, 1976, in Dallas, Texas.
 
Lily Pons initially studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire and won first prize at the age of 15. Encouraged by the soprano Dyna Beumer, she began her vocal studies in Paris and New York in 1925. She made her operatic debut in 1928 in Mulhouse in the title role of Léo Delibes’ opera “Lakmé,” famous for its “Bell Song.”
The Italian tenor and impresario Giovanni Zenatello discovered the singer during an opera performance in the French provinces and suggested her to the general director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York as the successor to coloratura soprano Amelita Galli-Curci. On January 3, 1931, Lily Pons made her unannounced but highly successful debut at the Met as Lucia in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.”
Lily Pons remained associated with the Metropolitan Opera from 1931 to 1960. During this time, she performed there almost 300 times in 10 different roles, primarily as Lucia and Lakmé, as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” and as Rosina in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” She also appeared as a guest artist at many major opera houses, performed as a concert singer until 1973, and made numerous recordings. Since the 1950s, she had been a frequent guest on radio and television shows, where she presented popular music alongside the classical repertoire.

St. Vincent 5.11.1997


The video shows Lily Pons performing at Carnegie Hall in 1947
with the “Bell Aria” from the opera “Lakmé” by Léo Delibes.

Stamp of the Month: January 2026

E.T.A. Hoffmann

Germany 8.1.2026
The German writer, composer, conductor, music critic, and painter Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was born on January 24, 1776, in Königsberg. He died on June 25, 1822, in Berlin. January 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.
Hoffmann, who changed his third given name, Wilhelm, to Amadeus in 1805 out of admiration for Mozart, is considered a driving force of Romanticism.
Until 1806, the trained lawyer worked as a Prussian civil servant at various courts, pursuing his artistic passions only in his free time. Among other things, he was involved in establishing a “Musical Society” in Warsaw and, as its conductor, was able to perform his own works. During the French occupation of Warsaw, he moved to Berlin. In 1808, he briefly served as Kapellmeister (music director) and, from 1810, as assistant director, dramaturge, and set painter at the Bamberg Court Theatre. Alongside this, he continued to compose, write, and draw. He contributed music criticism to the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (General Musical Newspaper), but earned his living primarily as a music teacher.
In 1812, he went to Dresden as a theater conductor. There, in 1814, he completed his opera “Undine,” which premiered in Berlin in 1816.
From 1815 onward, with the collection of stories “Fantasiestücke in Callot’s Manier” (Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner), he finally achieved literary success. When E.T.A. Hoffmann died in Berlin in 1822, he left behind more than 50 novels and short stories, a dozen plays, and 20 instrumental and vocal works. Many of his works have been adapted for other operas, ballets, films, and literary works. The most famous musical works based on his texts are Offenbach’s opera “The Tales of Hoffmann” and Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker.”

Cuba 15.6.1967


The video shows excerpts from the ballet “The Nutcracker” from a current production
by the Grand Classic Ballet.

Driving Home For Christmas (In Memoriam Chris Rea)

Hjem Til Jul …  (Home for Christmas)

On December 22, 2025, the British singer, composer, pianist, and guitarist Christopher “Chris” Anton Rea died. Chris Rea was born on March 4, 1951, in Middlesbrough. He is best known for the song “Driving Home for Christmas”. He came up with the idea for it in 1978 while stuck in a traffic jam during the pre-Christmas season. Released in 1986, the song has become a modern Christmas classic in the 2000s.

 

New Stamps 2024

Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.
 

28.4.25: Guinea-Bissau / Liberia / Sierra Leone
30.5.25: Central African Republic / Djibouti / Guinea / Guinea-Bissau / Sierra Leone
5.7.25: Central African Republic / France / Guinea / Sierra Leone
15.10.25: Frankreich / Guinea / Zentralafrikanische Republik
14.12.25: Dschibuti / Guinea

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Planned issues 2025 (members only)