Anniversary on the Alster

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The Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT) is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Founded in the summer semester of 1950 from the private drama school of Annemarie Marks-Rocke and Eduard Marks, it developed into one of Germany's leading artistic and academic universities. Its first director was the composer Philipp Jarnach. After initially being housed at various locations, the university moved to the Budge-Palais on the Outer Alster in 1956. It has borne its current name since 1991 and teaches around 1600 students at two locations.

To mark this special anniversary, there will be a series of celebratory events in the summer semester of 2025 that will deliberately focus on students and their current issues.

Science Senator Katharina Fegebank: "From solo instrumental training, church music and jazz, musicology, music education, composition and multimedia to directing, opera and drama training: the HfMT is a university with an impressive range of courses where artistic excellence and social responsibility go hand in hand. It trains the next generation of cultural talent in our city and shapes the location both with innovative projects such as the ligeti zentrum and as a venue for top-class concert culture - a benefit for us all! Happy birthday and here's to the next 75 years!"

Prof. Dr. Jan Philipp Sprick, President of the HfMT: "The 75th anniversary of the University of Music and Drama comes at a time of crisis, but this motivates us all the more to keep thinking anew about the social significance of Music and Drama and to strive for a good future. This aspiration, which is also reflected in the university's leitmotif - artistic excellence in social responsibility - has characterized the university's work for many decades. We look forward to sharing the performances of our students with our ever-growing audience in Hamburg and to welcoming as many interested people from the city as possible to our anniversary events."

The 2025 anniversary dates at a glance:
3.04. - Anniversary celebration in the university forum
https://www.hfmt-hamburg.de/hochschule/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/12102-2025-04-03-75-jahre-hfmt
1.05. - Sound night- a popular format in which the university's artistic spectrum is presented in (almost) all rooms until late into the night.
21.06. - Summer party
https://www.hfmt-hamburg.de/hochschule/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/12145-2025-06-21-sommerfest-2025