40 years Popkurs Hamburg

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For four decades, the Popkurs Hamburg at the University of Music and Drama (HfMT) has been training talented musicians and shaping Germany's musical landscape. On October 10, the renowned course celebrated its 40th anniversary with a ceremony and anniversary concert. The alumni of the Popkurs Hamburg are present throughout the music scene: from avant-garde artists such as Wir sind Helden and Peter Fox to current pop stars such as Boy, Johannes Oerding and Revolverheld. Music cabaret artist Bodo Wartke, as well as composers and film music creators such as Martin Lingnau and Volker Bertelmann (Oscar winner 2023 for "Im Westen nichts Neues") are also among the graduates.

Dr. Carsten BrosdaSenator for Culture and Media: "The Popkurs Hamburg has developed into a springboard for musical careers that is known and appreciated far beyond the city limits. With its outstanding training, Popkurs Hamburg motivates and enables countless artists to make their dreams of a successful music career come true. The university thus makes an important contribution to the development of popular music and the music city of Hamburg. Congratulations on 40 years of Popkurs and I look forward to many more talents who will enrich the music scene thanks to their education at the HfMT!"

Prof. Dr. Jan Philipp SprickPresident of the university: "The Popkurs Hamburg is a living example of the HfMT's potential to pick up on current developments and translate them into innovative courses. I congratulate it on 40 great years and hope that we will be able to integrate pop music even more strongly into the university's courses in the future."

Katja Kaye BottenbergManaging Director of Popkurs Hamburg: "The Popkurs is a kind of laboratory in which artistic personalities and musical inventions of various genres develop. The entrance examination therefore places particular emphasis on originality and inventiveness. But craftsmanship is also an important element. The fact that the promotion of creativity and musical independence is located at a university encourages the next generation to take personal inclination and talent seriously and to give the development of this potential a high priority in their life planning. Those who have completed the pop course are better equipped to find their own musical path."

Background:
Closely linked to Hamburg's pop music tradition as Music City from the Beatles to modern times, the Popkurs Hamburg has developed into an important factor in regional and supra-regional culture and business. Based at the HfMT, the training program accepts around 50 young musicians each year after a two-stage selection process, who are coached in two intensive three-week courses. Since 2004, musician Katja Kaye Bottenberg has been the managing director and head of the pop course at the HfMT.
Popkurs Hamburg