Category: Uncategorized

New copies of Exhibits

On our website, copies of numerous (partly historical) exhibits can be viewed.
 


New exhibits in the members only section:
9.9.26: Six new exhibits added to the “Composers” section
“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Inconceivable Genius”
“Benjamin Britten”
“Beethoven – The Miracle of Music”
“The Viennese Waltz Kings – Johann Strauss I and II”
“George Gershwin – A Composer Encounters Cultures”
“Les Six – Moving Away from Romantic Music”
 
Copies of exhibits (members only)

New Checklists

The members only section of our website contains a collection of checklists about various topics of music philately. The collection is constantly expanding and can be read online by our members.
 


New enhancements:
15.1.26: Postal Stationery of Bulgaria (updated)
23.4.26: Female Dancers (updated)
14.6.26: Verdi (updated)
5.7.26: Aida (updated)
7.7.26: Male Dancers (updated) / Ballroom Dance (updated)
6.8.26: Postal Stationery of Romania – Covers (updated)
7.9.26: Bayreuth Festival (new)
 

Go to the checklists (members only)  Checklists Postal Stationery (members only)

The new “Musikus” has been issued

Our newsletter “Der Musikus” No. 168 has been released.
This time, the featured article focuses on the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival.
 
In addition to numerous articles on composers, performers, musical instruments, and music venues, there is — as always — an extensive list of new stamp issues.
Take a look at the table of contents. Members of “Motivgruppe Musik” (Philatelic Music Study Group) can read the entire issue online in the members’ area.
 
Table of contents  “Der Musikus” – Archive (members only)

Yehudi Menuhin Trophy 2026 – Most popular Music Stamp 2025

The Winning Stamp: Austria
Designed by Kirsten Lubach

     
Stamp issues marking significant anniversaries of famous figures from the worlds of culture, science, and politics have long been highly popular among postal authorities and collectors alike. Against this backdrop, it comes as no surprise that the stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss, was voted the most popular music-themed stamp of 2025 by collectors worldwide, garnering 6.07% of the vote. Issued by Austrian Post on January 18, 2025, the stamp combines the figure from the Johann Strauss monument in Vienna’s Stadtpark with a detail from the title page of the first edition of the piano score for the waltz “The Blue Danube” (*An der schönen blauen Donau*), published by C.A. Spina in Vienna in 1867. The stamp was designed by Viennese artist Kirsten Lubach, who is being honored with the 2026 Yehudi Menuhin Trophy for her work.
 
Born in Troisdorf in 1973, Kirsten Lubach trained as an engraver at the Zeichenakademie in Hanau. She subsequently pursued further studies in Lahti, Finland, on a scholarship and qualified as a master engraver there in 1999. After working for a specialiced firm for several years, she moved to the Austrian State Printing Office in 2003, where she was initially responsible for correcting and retouching printing plates. The first stamp she engraved — part of the “Wildlife of Austria” series — was released in 2006. In 2012, Lubach became self-employed, opening her own copperplate engraving and printing studio in Vienna. Over the years, she has designed numerous stamps for various postal authorities and already received the Yehudi Menuhin Trophy in 2023 for the “Trombone” stamp — part of the “Musical Austria” series — which was voted the most popular music-themed stamp of 2022.
 
      

With 4.59% of the vote, the Christmas stamp “The Pixies’ Christmas” from the Faroe Islands — issued on October 20, 2025 — took second place. The stamp was designed by Janus á Húsagarði, a Faroese photographer and visual artist based in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland.
Taking third place with 4.43% of the vote was the German stamp “Semper Opera House” from the “Historic Buildings in Germany” series; for its design, graphic artist Jan-Niklas Kröger — part of Deutsche Post’s graphic design team — utilized the AI ​​image generator DALL·E.
It is fascinating to observe the diverse graphic approaches taken with these three stamps: ranging from collage and poetic, fairy-tale-style illustration to the use of artificial intelligence — though one hopes that postal authorities will not succumb to the temptation of replacing the craftsmanship of graphic artists with AI.
Once again, stamps from 66 postal authorities were in the running for the title of “Most Popular Music Stamp of 2025” and collectors from 36 countries participated in the online vote.
 

4th Place

5th Place

6th Place

7th Place

8th Place

9th Place

10th Place

Here you will find all the candidates for the election of the most popular music stamp of 2025.
Here you will find all previous winners of the Yehudi Menuhin Trophy.

In Memoriam: Ozzy Osbourne

Irish musician Glen Hansard passed away on July 29, 2026, at the age of just 56.

Glen Hansard died in a motorcycle accident near Dublin on July 29, 2026. He had previously been honored by the Irish postal service on an official stamp issued on March 24, 2022 (Mi. 2433, featuring Markéta Irglová). An article on this subject can be found in *Musikus* 151 (June 2022). At the funeral service, Bono of U2 bade farewell to Glen Hansard with a new rendition of “Beautiful Day.”

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová perfoming their Oscar-awarded Song
“Falling Slowly” from the film “Once”.

New articles in our Library

The library of our study group contains an extensive collection of philatelic magazine articles from all areas of music philately. These articles can be read online by our members.
 

The new articles deal with the following topics, among others:
Carl Maria von Weber / Marilyn Monroe / Engelbert Humperdinck / Friedrich Cerha / Udo Lindenberg / German Rock Classics / Eurovision Song Contest / Finlandia Hall / Burgtheater in Vienna / The Timpany / Bayreuth Festival / “The New German Wave” / Indian Music in Philately / The Meistersinger Stamp of 1968

 

Go to the archive (members only)
 

Please Save the Date: New Stamp Fair in Mülheim an der Ruhr, 2027

It took a while, but as a successor event to the Essen Stamp Fair, an International Stamp Fair is scheduled to take place in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, from May 21 to 22, 2027. Please save the date; we are planning to host an information stand for the Motivgruppe Musik. Further details will follow.

General Meeting 2026 in Meiningen


Our 2026 get-together will take place

from March 27 to 29 in Meiningen (Thuringia).

 

The program includes the general meeting with the election of a new board, a small stamp exhibition on the theme of “Theater”, a visit to the Meiningen Theater Museum, and a concert by students of the Max Reger Conservatory in Meiningen.

 


Backdrop at the Meiningen Theater Museum

Get-together 2025 in Ulm


Our get-together will take place as part of

the International Stamp Fair

from October 23rd to 25th in Ulm.

 

Visit us at our information booth

Hall 2 / Booth A 30.

 

On Friday afternoon (October 24th), members of Motivgruppe Musik will enjoy a guided city tour with the Ulm Town Musician. On Saturday morning (October 25th), interested members and visitors can receive an introduction to the music exhibits on display.