I have been participating in a panel discussion, organised by Wolfgang Lessing at Dresden University of Music. This event was part of a newly founded network dedicated to concepts and structural problems of music education in Germany. It’s been a versatile and very inspiring exchange of thoughts with participants from various kinds of musical institutions in Saxonia and Berlin. My colleague Helge Harding and I presented our ideas for new paradigms of professional musical training. A number of other sensitive issues were brought up as well, including possible changes to university curricula and assessment of achievements in musical performance. Future engagement will require people to link themselves, to concentrate their ideas and to transfer them into a broader public in order to reach politics and administrations.
Events
Medtner’s Night Wind Howls Again
Just to let you know, for the unlikely case that anybody shares my nerdy predilection for exuberant Russian piano music: I will be presenting my paper on Nikolai Medtner‘s E minor Sonata ›Night Wind‹, Op. 25 No. 2, once again as part of the 17th annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, on November 17, 1.30 pm. Analytical insights will be augmented by in-depth examination of the work’s poetic and hermeneutic contexts. I’d be so lucky to enjoy your company!
Museum Music
Looking forward to my first solo performance in quite a while. I will be contributing music by Claude Debussy and George Gershwin to the opening of an exhibition with landscape paintings by Karl Hagemeister and Walter Leistikow, taking place at Bröhan Museum Berlin the following Wednesday, October 25, from 7 pm (see also the Facebook event). Entrance is free, Charlottenburgers and all other guests are welcome!
Summer Solstice Stuff
Two events to come on the following weekend. I will be presenting some of my »Vokalsalat« pieces in an event named Slam The Library, part of the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften at Berlin Technical University – Saturday, June 24, poetry slam starting at 10pm in the Volkswagen Library. The following day, the Chamber Choir of the Berlin University of the Arts will perform motets by Josquin, Schütz, and Reger in a choral concert at St Mary’s Cathedral, Gransee – Sunday, June 25, 5pm, with free admission. Come around, it’s gonna be quite a treat!
Medtner Society Inaugural Concert
This Sunday, May 21, will see the first Berlin Medtner Concert Day take place at Logenhaus Wilmersdorf, serving as the inaugural concert of the freshly founded International Medtner Society. In two recitals starting at 11am and 6pm, six devoted musicians will introduce themselves with piano sonatas, skazki, and Goethe songs. Looking forward to the performances of Anna Warnecke, Luisa Splett, Irina Chistiakova, Darya Dadykina, Vasily Gvozdetsky, and Evgeny Nikiforov—and also to adding some introductory words and remarks based on my latest research. The concerts are nearly fully booked, so hurry up to snatch one of the last tickets. For details see the Facebook event page.