Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, in the wine-growing Rheingau region between Wiesbaden and Lorch.

The gothic church of Kiedrich houses the oldest playable organ in Germany, and has its own "dialect" of Gregorian chant that dates back to 1333.

[6][7] The concerts of the first season took place at Kloster Eberbach, in the hall and church of Schloss Johannisberg, at St. Martin in Lorch (part of the Rhine Gorge World Heritage Site), at the Rheingauer Dom in Geisenheim, and in Wiesbaden at the Marktkirche and the Kurhaus.

[8] Important locations have also included Schloss Vollrads, the Abbey St. Hildegard in Eibingen, the churches St. Valentin in Kiedrich, the romanesque Basilika St. Aegidius of Mittelheim and St. Georg und Katharina in Wiesbaden-Frauenstein, the Parkhotel of the spa Schlangenbad, the Lutherkirche in Wiesbaden and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main.

An annual Sommerfest is held at Schloss Johannisberg while other open-air concerts have taken place in wineries and vineyards, on river boats, in the cloisters of Eberbach, the courts of Vollrads and the Kurpark Wiesbaden.

Bach's oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu was performed by Hermann Max conducting the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert, with soloists Veronika Winter, Markus Schäfer and Matthias Vieweg.

In 2011 the ensemble Concerto Romano, conducted by Alessandro Quarta, performed a combination of works by composers from Rome, Vincenzo Ugolini (Laudate pueri), Paolo Tarditi (c.1580–1661, Lauda Jerusalem), Domenico Massenzio (d.1650, "Ave maris stella"), and in particular Lorenzo Ratti (c.1589–1630).

[22] In 2013 Monteverdi's Vespers were performed again, this time by the ensemble amarcord with additional singers, and the Lautten Compagney conducted by Wolfgang Katschner.

[23] Organ concerts have been played on the historic instruments of the region by organists such as Marie Claire Alain, Gabriel Dessauer, Edgar Krapp and Ignace Michiels.

In 2010 a new series started, presenting artists before their concerts in a separate Rendezvous: Christoph Eschenbach, the percussionist Martin Grubinger and Menahem Pressler.

[27] Jörg Widmann, Composer and Artist in Residence in 2014, appeared four times, as a clarinet soloist in two chamber music concerts playing the clarinet quintets by Mozart and Brahms with the Arcanto Quartet and works by Stravinsky, Schumann and Bartók with his sister, Carolin Widmann, and Dénes Várjon, in a Rendezvous and a Werkstattkonzert with students of the Musikhochschule Frankfurt.

Wollny invited for a concert at the Kurhaus Wiesbaden the vocalist Andreas Schaerer, the saxophonist Émile Parisien and the accordionist Vincent Peirani.

[35] Artists have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alfred Brendel, Mstislav Rostropovich, the Alban Berg Quartet, Zubin Mehta, and Riccardo Muti.

[37] Other artists of 2009 included Colin Davis, Ludwig Güttler, Martha Argerich, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Anne Sofie von Otter and Olga Scheps.

In 2011, the Thomanerchor sang a concert of mostly motets, including Bach's Jesu, meine Freude in Eberbach Abbey, part of the choir's tour in its 800th year.

Andreas Scholl, born in the Rheingau, made his debut at the festival in three events, an interview, a trip (Rheingaureise) to three churches with different concert programs, and an opera recital with his sister Elisabeth in Eberbach Abbey.

[40][41] Other artists of 2011 included Freddy Cole, Yo-Yo Ma, Mitsuko Uchida, Waltraud Meier, Sabine Meyer, Heinrich Schiff, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Arabella Steinbacher, Daniel Müller-Schott, Xavier de Maistre, Omara Portuondo, Dianne Reeves, Nils Landgren, The King's Singers, the Münchner Philharmoniker with Olli Mustonen and Herbert Blomstedt, and the Windsbacher Knabenchor, among others.

[44][45] On 17 June 2012, the 25th season of the festival was celebrated at the Kurhaus, Wiesbaden, with speeches by Volker Bouffier, Roland Koch and Enoch zu Guttenberg.

[6][7] The 25th season of the festival is celebrated by concerts of "Wegbegleiter" ("Companions along the way"), artists who have appeared regularly from the beginning, such as the Virtuosi Saxoniae, conducted by Ludwig Güttler, the Kammerchor Stuttgart, conducted by Frieder Bernius who had performed the very first concert of the festival, the piano duo Anthony & Joseph Paratore, the boys choir Windsbacher Knabenchor, percussionist Babette Haag, pianists Ewa Kupiec, Gerhard Oppitz, Justus Frantz, Tzimon Barto, Christoph Eschenbach and Oleg Maisenberg, actor Walter Renneisen, the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart with Helmuth Rilling, and Enoch zu Guttenberg with his ensembles.

[46] The Marienvesper was a sequence of works by Alessandro Melani, performed by Das kleine Konzert and the Rheinische Kantorei, conducted by Hermann Max, with soloists Veronika Winter, Franz Vitzthum, Hans Jörg Mammel and Markus Flaig, among others.

[48] In 1994 the festival initiated the Rheingau Musik Preis that has been awarded annually for musical achievements, to[49] Many concerts have been conducted in collaboration with broadcasting stations, namely Hessischer Rundfunk.