This coming weekend, crescendo – the music festival of the Berlin University of the Arts – opens its doors for a fortnight full of music under the programme motto “unERHÖRT”.
Image above: Eröffnungskonzert © Peter Adamik
In the opening concert on 25 May 2024, the UdK Berlin Symphony Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under the direction of Steven Sloane. Considered “unheard of” by many at its premiere 200 years ago, the symphony has since not only become a classic, but also stands for one of the most gratifying peace projects of our time. Rebecca Nelsen (soprano), Nadine Weissmann (alto), Michael Porter (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bass) and the Berlin Philharmonic Choir (rehearsed by Jörg-Peter Weigle) will be taking part. The concert begins with “Vehigianu” for solo soprano and orchestra by Udi Perlman, in which the composer sets excerpts from a Hebrew prayer of thanksgiving to music. Also on Saturday, the Staats- und Domchor Berlin and the girls’ choir of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin invite you to an open day. Under the motto “Sing with us!”, all children aged five and over who are enthusiastic about singing are invited to take part in a voice check.
On Sunday, 26 May 2024, the two newly appointed professors of double bass will introduce themselves in a masterclass in the Joseph Joachim Concert Hall from 11 am: Burak Marlali (solo double bassist at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig) and Janne Saksala (solo double bassist with the Berliner Philharmoniker) – two outstanding, internationally performing musicians with experience in teaching the double bass. Under the title “Schönberg in Exile”, the ensemble ilinx will then begin to weave a thread through the festival programme to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Together with the Jazz Institute Berlin and the composition and conducting departments of the Berlin University of the Arts, they will present a multi-layered programme that makes audible the many traces that Arnold Schönberg’s work has left in music history to this day.
Over the course of the festival until 8 June 2024, style-defining works, particularly those of the emerging 20th century, will be highlighted in various formats and placed in the context of Arnold Schönberg’s work. There will be chamber music by Mahler, Zemlinsky and Schönberg, a Schönberg weekend with lectures, ensemble and solo literature, with the famous Pierrot Lunaire, the violin concerto in a version for violin and piano as well as works by his students such as Viktor Ullmann, Anton Webern and Dika Newlin. An exhibition, supported by the Arnold Schönberg Centre Vienna, provides information about Schönberg’s life and work. The UdK Berlin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eckart Hübner and Hartmut Rohde, will perform the grand finale in the final concert entitled “aufGEHÖRT” with works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke and Franz Schreker.
UnERHÖRT versatile and at the highest level, crescendo presents the excellent musical education at the UdK Berlin – all in an impressive interplay of students and internationally performing and established teachers.
With a few exceptions, the concerts will take place in the concert hall of the Berlin University of the Arts and in the Joseph Joachim Concert Hall of the Berlin University of the Arts, with free admission and ticket reservations. The full programme as well as all details for booking tickets can be found at: www.udk-berlin.de/crescendo.
WHEN?
Saturday, 25. May until Saturday, 8. June 2024
WHERE?
Universität der Künste Berlin
COSTS?
Free admission
