A JazzHall for Hamburg
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Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation and Senate open groundbreaking concert hall at the University of Music and Drama
A new and spectacular concert hall for jazz and other experimental music and art forms has been built in Hamburg on the campus of the University of Music and Drama (HfMT), in the immediate vicinity of the Alster, over a construction period of around two years. The JazzHall opens today with a video trailer, and the first public concerts will take place next week. Teaching started in the summer semester of 2021. What makes it special? The 550 m² JazzHall with space for up to 300 concertgoers is located under the gardens of the listed Budge-Palais and will only bulge out of the lawn by the additional room height required. The realization of the JazzHall was initiated by the Hamburg Senate Chancellery and implemented by the Ministry of Science, Research, Equality and Districts. It was built by Sprinkenhof GmbH as part of the city's tenant-landlord model (MVM). The total project costs for the JazzHall amount to around 6.4 million euros. Of this, the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation is covering EUR 5.7 million and the City of Hamburg up to EUR 700,000. Hamburg and the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation are also strengthening the HfMT jazz department: the number of study places will be doubled by 2022/23. The JazzLabor will also be completed in addition to the JazzHall as part of the expansion of the "Jazz" Master's degree course and in cooperation with the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation. The combination of the two new buildings will create more space for rehearsals and performances on the Outer Alster, which is urgently needed.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the opening ceremony has been postponed until 2022. A musical celebration week is planned for this purpose next year.
Dr. Peter TschentscherFirst Mayor: "The JazzHall will give Hamburg a new, modern music venue. It is an enrichment for the music-loving citizens of our city, who can look forward to extraordinary concerts in an extraordinary concert hall. The JazzHall could become an audience favorite - in the heart of the city and with a view of the Alster. The JazzHall will provide the University of Music and Drama with an excellent training facility for jazz musicians and a special stage for other experimental art forms. I would like to thank the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation for its commitment and wish the University of Music and Drama every success and all fans of jazz music much joy with the JazzLabor and the new JazzHall in Hamburg."
Katharina FegebankSenator for Science: "The JazzHall is a highly attractive and modern concert hall which, together with the JazzLabor and the expansion of the HfMT's jazz studies program, will significantly 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. I would like to thank everyone involved - especially the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation - for their great commitment and generous support. I am absolutely delighted with the JazzHall. The atmosphere and the location are incredibly inspiring, and so is jazz music. Especially in times of the pandemic, we have realized that nothing is as important as spontaneity, a talent for improvisation and tolerance. And these are values that are conveyed precisely through jazz music, which is why this will be a place of extraordinary radiance that will enable both education and events and music at the highest level, and I am particularly looking forward to that."
Dr. Ernst A. LangnerDr. E. A. Langner Foundation: "Hamburg is well on the way to becoming a world music city in the field of jazz. The establishment of the JazzLabor and the JazzHall are the beginning of a new era for the HfMT. A JazzHall for jazz, crossover and world music is now available to students as well as national and international jazz musicians. My wife and I are thrilled that after more than a decade of hard work, a vision has become reality. May Hamburg be proud of the JazzLabor and the JazzHall."
Prof. Elmar LampsonPresident of the Hamburg University of Music and Drama: "The construction of the JazzHall gives the university a new facet. This can be clearly seen from the outside in the wonderful building that extends towards the Alster. But a spirit of optimism can also be felt inside the university. The HfMT is getting a place where new accents in jazz are set, creativity and impulses are lived and further developments are made possible. This is an important signal, especially at a time when cultural institutions often look to the future with great concern. My special thanks therefore go to Dr. Ernst A. Langner and his foundation for this important support for the HfMT, which is one of the largest private donations in the history of the university. Together with Prof. Wolf Kerschek, Dr. Langner has developed these forward-looking ideas for jazz. The city has embraced this and I would like to thank the First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher and the Second Mayor and Science Senator Katharina Fegebank for their great support and the courage to realize the Jazz Hall."
Prof. Nils LandgrenJazz musician, Hamburg University of Music and Drama: "This hall exceeds all my expectations. I think this is the only way to develop and have a place where you belong, where your voice is heard and seen. And this is exactly the right place for young, older and even veteran musicians to meet. And I'm happy when you can take the curtain away behind the stage and have a view of the Alster. I think it will simply be astral."
Prof. Wolf KerschekHead of the Jazz Department, Hamburg University of Music and Drama: "Jazz is best learned where it can be experienced and lived. We would like to thank everyone who makes this possible."
Martin GörgeManaging Director of Sprinkenhof GmbH: "Following the renovation of the Trautwein buildings, which are part of the ensemble with the listed Budge-Palais, I am delighted that we have been able to realize a functional and architecturally outstanding new building for the University of Music and Drama in the form of the JazzHall. We would like to thank everyone involved, especially the Langner Foundation, for the excellent cooperation and the trust they have placed in us. We wish the JazzHall every success and are sure that it will further strengthen Hamburg as a musical location with wonderful jazz!"
Further information: www.jazzhall.de