2011/12 season

stART

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Benjamin Schaefer Trio

In the Bayer cultural magazine KUNSTstoff 08 we reviewed the progress of our stART protégés so far and came to the conclusion that they had all got off to an excellent “stART”. Hardy Rittner, the Signum Quartet and the Benjamin Schaefer Trio all went from success to success last season – an achievement that gives us at least as much pleasure and satisfaction as it does the artists themselves. Bayer Arts & Culture attaches huge importance to its sponsorship of highly talented young musicians, dancers, actors and artists and to providing them with a sound and sustainable basis on which to build their respective careers. And at the same time – almost as a side-effect – their performances enrich our programme enormously.

Artistic highlights included the Signum Quartet’s appearance with Alfred Brendel, Hardy Rittner’s performance of Johannes Brahms’ first piano concerto with l’arte del mondo, the presentation by the Benjamin Schaefer Trio of their new CD and the premiere of Rilke’s The White Princess. Sometimes, however, it is the “little” things that confirm the success of the project. For example, the Signum Quartet asked us if it would be possible to hold their final rehearsals in front of an audience in the Bayer Kulturhaus, as its outstanding acoustics would help them prepare for major concerts. These public rehearsals with subsequent discussion are now a regular feature and the quartet has acquired an exclusive group of fans who never miss a single one.

The written reactions of the principals of our partner universities, who include Prof. Wolfgang Engler of the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” in Berlin and Prof. Reiner Schuhenn of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, also confirm just how important these projects are to students. And it is particularly gratifying that specialist journals such as Theater der Zeit, Das Opernglas, theater pur, akt and Rondo now report on this work. The list of projects initiated and successes notched up since stART was launched in May 2009 is already impressively long, and this season, too, we will undoubtedly see and hear some superb stART events in the Bayer Kulturhaus.

In the DANCE section, we can look forward to the premiere of a work by the Finnish dancer and choreographer Milla Koistinen, who has been studying at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” in Berlin since 2010. After the premiere in the Bayer Kulturhaus, her choreography entitled No one escapes the spectacle of happiness will be performed in the Uferstudios Berlin, the new international centre for dance.

In our Invitation to art colleges series we will be exhibiting work by students from the Kunsthochschule Kassel. With the support of Bayer Arts & Culture, the Benjamin Schaefer Trio is producing a new CD which it will perform live in the at midnight series. Hardy Rittner, who garnered ECHO Klassik awards in 2009 and 2010, is performing twice in Leverkusen – once in our series of piano recitals and once with the Jenaer Philharmonie when, at his own special request, he will play Arnold Schönberg’s piano concerto. He will also give recitals in Krefeld, Wuppertal and Knechtsteden. Bayer Arts & Culture is sponsoring the production of Rittner’s sixth CD, featuring works by Frédéric Chopin. The Signum Quartet is teaming up with Dominique Horwitz for an evening of Kafka (which they plan to take on tour after the premiere in Leverkusen) and also features in the chamber music and symphony concert series, in the latter case playing together with the Bayer Philharmoniker. In addition, all the stART artists have pledged their continued support for our HandsOn! series.

Events

» Archive 11/12

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Music
Signum Quartet
Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, op. 10
Anton Webern: Langsamer Satz
Franz Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, D 810 Death and the Maiden

8.00 p.m. , Bayer Kulturhaus
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