Events

New choral performances upcoming! I will be appearing on stage with Vokalsystem Berlin again in two concerts featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach, John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Caroline Shaw, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead. The programme is named »Symmetries« and will present a multi-perspective crossover experience, blending influences from classical music, swing, and contemporary styles, and confronting vocal sounds with percussion, electric guitar, and organ. Join us at Martin-Luther-Kirche Neukölln on Saturday 14 February, 8 pm, or Sunday 15 February, 6 pm. Tickets are available here.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity of speaking in front of the Committee of Cultural Affairs in the Berlin House of Representatives. I appeared as a spokesperson for my association Tonkünstlerverband Berlin in a consultation of experts and cultural administration, discussing questions of how to fund and recruit more permanent positions on the faculty of Berlin’s public music schools. In my statement I advocated for fair payment of all persons in music education and equal treatment of teachers in state and private institutions, as well as freelance educators. Please find a link to the recording of the committee meeting here (my contributions start at timecode 51:37 and timecode 2:09:36).

Yesterday I participated in a fascinating conference of that title, hosted by the Open Music Academy and Hochschule für Musik und Theater München at Saal X, Gasteig München. The event featured a stunning line-up of artists, lecturers, and legal experts, and I thoroughly enjoyed the exchange of thoughts with colleagues from all over Germany. There were papers by Frédéric Döhl, Friederike von Franqué, and Fabian Rack, as well as an intriguing panel discussion with contributions from Matthias Hornschuh, Ulrich Kaiser, Renate Schmid, and others. I myself had the pleasure of leading a workshop on the possibilities of the platform Open Music Academy and its potential for teaching music theory. Many thanks to all the organizers, in particular Ilka Mestemacher and Shinta Walker from the OMA team!

The winter term at my university in Düsseldorf is about to commence, and I am looking forward to be teaching again after the summer break. Furthermore, there will be some additional activities and travels during the following weeks that promise to be intriguing and mind-broadening: the annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung in Weimar, the annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie in Lübeck, and the final symposium of the Open Music Academy in Munich. I am particularly excited to be involved in actions of gender equality, support of minorities, and an initiative against abuse of power in the music academia, of which I hopefully will be able to share more news and insights soon.