ON THE RELEVANCE OF FRICTION

From May 10-16, the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) will take place in Hamburg, bringing together experts from all over the world to explore current practices and future directions in computer music and sound art.

In addition to the top-class conference program, the host ligeti zentrum is organizing the Off-ICMC as an accompanying festival, which is refreshingly approachable and thus literally takes the basic idea of the center into account. Because when it comes to research, it is always about transfer and the focus is clearly on people. For conference director and overall project manager of the ligeti center Prof. Dr. Georg Hajdu, it is ultimately about breaking down science and research, art and technology in their respective complexity and making them accessible to everyone.
"We want to be asked, we want to enter into a dialog, we want to amaze, astonish and sometimes irritate people, enable participation and thus also make our contribution to strengthening democracy."
The free accompanying program is dedicated to the topic of "Music in our digital age" with workshops, public installations, readings and a science slam.

ICMC and Off-ICMC from May 10 to 16

The great violinist Nathan Milstein once said that he didn't like competitions, but that anyone who had prepared well had already won for themselves the evening before the competition.
In the coming weeks, a number of internal competitions will be taking place at the HfMT. We took this as an opportunity to talk to violin professor Tanja Becker-Bender about the opportunities and downsides of competitions:

First of all, it has to be said that competitions can be an enormous boost. So much repertoire is tested in such a short space of time, releasing so much energy at certain points that you can't call on in everyday life and that allows you to surpass yourself. Bringing so many pieces to the point, exposing yourself to evaluation and the personal development that you gain in the process are invaluable, regardless of the result.

Teachers and jurors share a great deal of responsibility for creating a respectful space for the participants and providing them with positive support. After all, a competition also produces "losers" and the participants are in a vulnerable position. In addition, an evaluation scale is variable depending on the composition of the jury and results are therefore not always comprehensible. Competitions can therefore have a great impact and say little about an artist, partly because, for example, the distance traveled is much more important than the objective performance at that moment. Real artistic fulfillment requires the interplay of many factors that often take time to develop, and a "failure" can soon be followed by a breakthrough if you, as a participant, find what you have been missing so far.

Fortunately, the competition scene is changing. Competitive thinking is giving way to collegial cooperation, mental health is being recognized as important and the idea of artistic excellence increasingly includes criteria such as a chamber music round or a creative concept in the form of a free "carte blanche" in addition to perfect playing. Follow-up support is also becoming increasingly important and leads to subsequent workshops and concert performances, as we are currently developing at the HfMT with the support of the Rudolf and Renate Seidel Foundation in the Elise Meyer Competition.

Despite all the competition, our internal university competitions are cordial and supportive, and everyone involved strives to create a positive protective space in a supportive atmosphere.
We wish everyone every success and an open and supportive audience!

May 10: Prizewinners' concert of the Gustav Mahler Competition
16. May: Steinway Prize competition
30. May: Prizewinners' concert of the Steinway Competition
June 6 and 7: Final rounds of the Elise Meyer Competition
21. June: Prizewinners' concert of the Elise Meyer Competition

Here, too, there is a field of tension: the battle between the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, which is often read as a struggle between superstition and reason, matriarchy and patriarchy or between emotion and law. At the center are Tamino and Pamina, two young people searching for orientation in this world full of contradictions.
This summer, one of the most frequently performed works in opera history returns to the HfMT: The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart based on a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder.

As a central element of his staging concept, Christian Poewe integrates the respective native languages of the international ensemble and enables the students to have direct, emotional access to their characters. In this way, the search for identity, one of the main themes of the play, is directly linked to the personal origins and individual perspectives of the performers.

Under the musical direction of Willem Wenzel, the Master's Opera students will perform Mozart's The Magic Flute on stage. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra will perform in the orchestra pit, Sina Eichhorst from the HFBK will be responsible for the stage design together with video artist David Scheffler, and Louisa von Ohlen and Julian Philip Hirsch from the HAW will design the costumes.

Premiere of The Magic Flute on May 24

May 19th is the 14th German Diversity Day and we are asking ourselves:
"What is the HfMT doing in the context of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and what significance does critical institutional self-reflection have for the sustainable promotion of diversity?"

In this context, we are looking forward to the visit of psychologist and professor Prof. Dr. Martina Tißberger, who will give us some critical reflections with her impulse on the topic of difference and power - a critical wh iteness perspective.
In her work on difference and power, she analyzes social conditions from a critical whiteness perspective. In doing so, she is essentially concerned with making "whiteness" visible not as a neutral standard, but as a privileged, powerful position that often remains unquestioned. Tißberger also emphasizes the entanglement of categories such as racism, gender and class. She analyses how these lines of difference interact to stabilize or transform power relations.

As usual, our third edition of an HfMT Diversity Day also thrives on the diverse artistic contributions of our students and the subsequent get-together, where we can reflect, deepen our thoughts and engage in an exchange.

Diversity Day at the HfMT on May 19

...
For ALL!
Really?
Sure!
Is that possible?

Yes, together with cooperation partners for all young talents, regardless of financial means, cultural background or disability!
Anything else is pointless - unseemly, boring, unreal, one-sided, unethical ...

We recently proved that this is possible at the kick-off for our young talent development center, under whose umbrella we are equally committed to equal opportunities and the promotion of excellence in musical education in cooperation with the Hamburg Youth Music School, The Young ClassX and EUCREA e.V.

In doing so, we are implementing a further measure from our diversity management concept and attempting to live up to the accessibility and inclusion that exists on paper and to which we feel committed as a public educational institution.

As a kind of preliminary stage and corresponding project to the Young Talent Promotion Center, the HfMT has been involved in school sponsorships at four general education schools with a diverse student body for about a year now, creating a variety of spaces for encounters.

You can find more detailed information about the school sponsorships and the Young Talent Promotion Center on our website.

As teased in the editorial, our new issue of zwoelf deals with ambivalence and ambiguity - partly philosophically abstract and partly with a very concrete university reference. We think this issue is particularly successful.
It can be read online, is available free of charge at the university and can even be delivered on request. We would be particularly pleased to receive your feedback.

If you send us your feedback in response to this newsletter, you can take part in a prize draw for 2 x 2 of the coveted tickets for Die Zauberflöte. The closing date for entries is May 13. Tickets for the B premiere on Tuesday, May 26 and the performance on Sunday, May 30 will be raffled off

There are also:
The final production of the play VERLETSCHUNGEN from 8-10 May
A film breakfast in the magazine with Die fabelhafte Welt der Amélie on 10 May
Prof. Dr. Reyhan Şahin aka Lady Bitch Ray in DILLA TIME 2 on 16 May. May
An evening of piano chamber music in the JazzHall on May 18
The third concert in the AudiMaxVocal series on May 27
Three fresh productions at the Kiezstürmer Festival on May 30 and 31

...can be found as usual in our calendar of events

So let's enjoy May together - we look forward to seeing you!
Your HfMT