Eight Composition Commissions for ACHT BRÜCKEN

ACHT BRÜCKEN | Musik für Köln, Germany

The motto for Acht Brücken 2015 is Musik. Politik. Hiding behind it are questions as to whether, and if so to what extent, political stances are present in contemporary music, how they find their voice and whether, in very general terms, artistic projects can develop political vision and creative power. To answer these questions eight composers from very different nations will be devoting themselves to a quite commonplace small musical form: the national anthem. The anthems of existing countries are often rather stereotypical in musical terms and anything but visionary. For this reason, by way of the commissions supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Acht Brücken is inviting the composers to an intellectual game: What visions could be developed in still unwritten anthems for non-existing countries? The eight composers fathoming this out will be: Gerhard Stäbler, Michael Gordon, Georg Katzer, Mark Barden, Martin Smolka, Hèctor Parra, Malika Kishino and Marco Stroppa.

May 1, 2015
Cologne Town Hall

May 2, 4, 9 and 10, 2015
Cologne Philharmonic Hall

May 3, 2015
Schauspiel im Depot, Cologne

May 8/9, 2015
WDR Broadcasting House at Wallrafplatz, Cologne

Further Information:
www.achtbruecken.de