"An expression of new beginnings": jazz hall celebrates topping-out ceremony

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Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation and Senate expand HfMT jazz department - number of study places to be doubled by 2022/23

A new presentation and concert hall for around 400 people is currently being built on the campus of the University of Music and Drama (HfMT) in the immediate vicinity of the Alster. The special feature: The 550 m² Jazz Hall is located beneath the gardens and will only bulge out of the lawn by the additional room height required so as not to restrict the visibility of the listed Budge-Palais. The total project costs for the Jazz Hall amount to around 5.7 million euros. The Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation is contributing 5 million euros and Hamburg up to 700,000 euros. Operations are scheduled to start in the 2020 winter semester. The Jazz Hall is being built by Sprinkenhof GmbH as part of the tenant-landlord model (MVM).

Katharina Fegebank, Senator for Science: "The Jazz Hall will create a highly attractive and modern concert hall which, together with the expansion of the HfMT's jazz studies program, will increase the international appeal of the university and Hamburg as a music location. Jazz students and national and international stars of the scene will have an excellent venue in which to develop new concert formats and inspire their audiences. The unique design of the Jazz Hall, which also enables open-air concerts, will allow the HfMT to open up even more to society. All Hamburg residents and visitors to our city will benefit from this. I would like to thank everyone involved - especially the Dr. E A. Langner Foundation - for their great commitment."

Dr. Ernst A. Langner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation: "After 15 years of developing a planning concept for the Jazz Hall, a milestone in its realization has finally been reached with the topping-out ceremony. I would like to thank the architects, the technical supervisors, the specialist planners and all the construction companies involved for their commitment in realizing my planning idea. May the architecture and acoustics of the new building bring much joy and happiness to the students, teaching staff and concert-goers. May the building develop into a creative center for jazz composition and jazz improvisation after completion. Jazz and classical music as well as other styles of world music will unite peacefully through "cross-over" music."

Expansion of the jazz master's program at the HfMT
The Jazz Hall is the first component of an overall package to strengthen jazz education in Hamburg. In cooperation with the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation, the Master's degree course in jazz at the university is also to be significantly expanded. In addition to the Jazz Hall with the Jazz Lab, new seminar and practice rooms are being built for the HfMT's jazz department. The jazz master's course was established in 2014 with financial support from the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation and currently has eight places. From 2021, the Ministry of Science will take over the financing of the course and expand it to 16 places by the winter semester 2022/23. The Master's degree program is a key element in ensuring excellence in jazz education in Hamburg and attracting the most talented young musicians to the city. At the same time, this course is a special attraction for national and international jazz musicians who come to the city as guest lecturers as part of master classes.

Prof. Elmar Lampson, President of the Hamburg University of Music and Drama: "The construction of the Dr. Langner Jazz Hall will make the university and Hamburg's musical life more colorful, modern and jazzy. The construction of the Jazz Hall is an expression of the new departure and further development of the HfMT, which as an innovative university is setting new accents in Hamburg's cultural life. My thanks go to Dr. Ernst A. Langner and his foundation for this pioneering sponsorship, which is one of the largest private donations in the history of the university. I am proud to live in a city that takes up and complements this support and makes the realization of this project possible. I would like to thank the First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher and the Second Mayor and Science Senator Katharina Fegebank for their great support."

Prof. Wolf Kerschek, Echo Klassik and Hamburg Jazz Prize winner and professor at the University of Music and Drama: "We only experience and learn the soul of jazz on stage, in exchange with our fellow musicians and the audience. Jazz stands for openness, exchange, communication and improvisation and is good for our city. Very soon, the people of Hamburg and all interested guests will be able to experience live how our musical future is being created. My special thanks go to the Dr. E.A. Langner Foundation for its many years of persistent commitment and generous support for jazz education, as well as to all those involved in politics who are making this visionary project a reality."

Jazz Hall: Unique indoor and outdoor concert hall
The Jazz Hall is a presentation and concert hall located at the front of the HfMT, largely sunk into the ground. The hall is being built in front of the striking Budge-Palais and the Trautwein buildings under the HfMT gardens in a section of the existing underground car park. It will only bulge out of the lawn by the additional room height required. The special feature: The space can be used both indoors and outdoors. The glass façade behind the stage can be opened up so that the orchestra can give open-air concerts facing the Alster meadows. Seating steps will be erected in front of the fully opening glass façade for this purpose. The aim is to achieve a close connection with the public. The structural design of the roof will protect the neighboring properties from noise immissions during summer concerts with the façade open. The concert hall, which seats around 200, can also be used for lectures.
The Jazz Hall was designed by the architectural firm MPP MEDING PLAN + PROJEKT. The Jazz Hall is being built by the municipal company Sprinkenhof GmbH as part of the tenant-landlord model (MVM). Sprinkenhof GmbH, the developer of the new building, has already successfully completed the energy-efficient refurbishment of the Trautwein buildings. As the central commercial real estate company of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Sprinkenhof gives the city a face through its new construction and refurbishment projects and is building for the future of Hamburg as an investor and developer.