NEWSLETTER 12/19

Wreath up, trumpet fanfares, tears of joy - and time to take a breather after a long, rocky road. For years, the HfMT's theater academy wandered from one place to another and from one temporary solution to the next without a permanent home or a stage of its own that could have offered it the space it urgently needed to develop. After an exhausting search, tough negotiations and repeatedly dashed dreams as well as constructive work in teams with vision, inspiration, strength and courage and good partners, the dry spell will soon be over.

[The topping-out ceremony at Wiesendamm took place on November 27 (https://www.hfmt-hamburg.de/news/details/231/). Next fall, the Theaterakademie and the Institute for Culture and Media Management, together with the Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg, will move into the former machine tool factory and are looking forward to filling the space with colossal cultural energy.

At the top of the shelf, in a cardboard box wrapped in tissue paper (2 layers), Ken Norris keeps his copy of Alice in Wonderland. A work that he grew up with. He has probably read it around 300 times, loved it and been captivated by these crazy, wonderful and enchanting stories. Illustrated by John Tenniel as in the original edition. "To Sylvia from Grandmother, Christmas 1951" it says. A gift from his great-grandmother to his mother. When he holds it in his hands, he suddenly feels transported back to his childhood.

And now Ken Norris sings a version of the classic set to music with the HfMT big band. It was composed by Michel Schroeder, who is currently studying jazz composition at the HfMT. Naturally to Ken's great delight: "The book lends itself very well to a musical version. The language is rich in rhythm and there are an enormous number of poems in it. However, I had my own music in mind and Michel's composition is completely different. Very complicated, but super cool!"

Don't miss Alice in Wonderland on 4.12. at Theater im Zimmer: HfMT Bigband feat. Ken Norris

"Make music! If you play an instrument, you'll get through life better." It was 13 years ago that Elke and Horst Dörner read this sentence in the newspaper "die ZEIT", which was the initial spark that got them involved in the JeKi project at the University of Music and Drama. "An instrument for every child" is the ambitious motto of a music education program originally from the Ruhr region, which the HfMT developed into a detailed teaching concept with a team of teachers of school music, elementary music pedagogy (EMP), rhythmics and instrumental didactics and which was launched at 13 elementary school in Hamburg in 2007.

With admirable continuity and generosity, the entrepreneurial couple has since financed the implementation of the HfMT's JeKi project at elementary school in Hamburg, making an immense contribution to the promotion and development of young people.
Every two years, it's "Clear the stage!" for the big JeKi concert in the Forum, in which both JeKi pupils and HfMT students give a joint concert. A few remaining tickets may be available at veranstaltungen@hfmt-hamburg.de.
We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Dörner from the bottom of our hearts for this extraordinary commitment!

When we invite you to the Opera Gala on December 14 in the Forum, we roll out the red carpet for our opera class. We celebrate the subject with our up-and-coming stars, who will soon - and this is usually the case - move on to the big houses at home and abroad to begin their careers. In our gala, the great, great operas will be heard in longer excerpts, without clichédly squandering one famous solo aria after another.
The pedagogical exercise serves as a targeted and individual preparation for the approaching professional life. The parts are selected by musical director Willem Wenzel based on the specifics of the students. In addition, the culture of ensemble singing is tested as well as the perfection of solo passages. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra will accompany the singers.

To ensure that the evening does not come across as a wild potpourri, Peter Krause will guide the audience through the program and, in keeping with tradition, find surprising connections between the individual pieces. Together with director Anja Bötcher-Krietsch, who carefully stages the production, he creates the transitional arcs and thus ensures a harmonious overall experience.