Life is so full of contrasts. Only two days after appearing as a jury member in the OneBeat SampleSlam at Kantine am Berghain, gladly evaluating some amazing productions of electronic music, I was lucky enough to witness another outstanding Metner experience today. Severin von Eckardstein and Michèle Gurdal were playing his 3rd Piano Concerto at Piano Salon Christophori, leaving me completely stunned. Apart from enjoying one of the very rare occasions to hear this piece performed live, it has been an overwhelming encounter with intelligent, emotional, and simply breathtaking musicianship. Besides, eavesdropping on what people chat after listening to what they consider to be just another late-Romantic virtuoso concerto makes me feel even more grateful to belong to a curious species—a company of some assorted, enlightened, and inaugurated bastards acquainted with Nikolai Karlovich Metner’s music. Thank you for an unforgettable evening!
Symposium Digitalisierung in Detmold
Feels good to be back in Detmold again. Taking part in a symposium on digitalisation routines in teaching, performance, and research at music universities. Glad to be here, and looking forward to meeting some old Detmoldian acquaintances tomorrow!
Aufführung Novemberklage
It does not quite fit the current season, but anyway, I’ll be performing the premiere of my piano piece November Lament next Friday, 7:30 pm, in my university’s recital hall, as part of an amazing concert programmed by our music theory classes. If you can manage a mournful, sombre, and autumnous facial expression, please come around and help me getting into the mood!
Die Grenzen des Gesangsrepertoires
This has been an issue to me ever since I started observing classical music: Singers tend to ignore a large portion of the repertoire composed for them. While common practice of vocalists seems to be limited to music from a period of some 250 years, most Renaissance, early Baroque, and 20th-century music is neglected. Read my full complaint on the Hello Stage blog.
Infobrief für Musiker:innen
To all Berlin-based musicians and music teachers: Please take notice of an extended article co-authored by Helge Harding and me, published on the website of the Tonkünstlerverband Berlin (DTKV). The essay is concerned with the current state of freelance musicianship and music education in Berlin, pleading for more professionalized activity and engagement. Feel free to read, share, and comment. We’d also appreciate you to get involved yourselves!