Nothing is real.

This year’s festival is dedicated to non-existent places and environments. Musically, worlds are to be brought to life that lie beyond our reality. Whether through reinterpretations of well-known stories or the creation of surreal and magical spaces, all performances will transport the audience to unreal worlds. Let yourself be carried away into a magical world full of toy instruments and boundless fantasy!

In close collaboration with the renowned young composer Lisa Streich, some of her outstanding works will be performed. In addition, we will enable our audience to gain deeper insights into Streich’s work in a panel discussion.

Streich’s art perfects our motto this year in an impressive way. Her subtle style, peppered with sensitive nuances and complemented by homemade mechanical devices, creates a delicate atmosphere of accidental musical beauty. This harmonizes beautifully with our festival title “Nothing is real”.

The title was inspired by Alvin Lucier’s cult work of the same name, in which he used “Strawberry Fields” as the basis for his musical material. Lucier’s composition focuses on a teapot, a symbol of communication and storytelling. It invites the listener to examine the visual language more intensely and to turn to imaginary places and scenarios.

It is precisely these non-existent worlds that we would like to open up musically in this year’s festival, creating spaces that lie beyond reality.

True to our tradition, we also present a variety of toy instruments and other special instruments and enrich the program with scenic performances.

 

Program

November 17, Evening 1 (Duration: 80 minutes)

 

19:30 Panel discussion with Lisa Streich and Sascha Lino Lemke

Lisa Streich Safran (2017) for Violin and Motorized Piano

Jacob Sello Premiere for Non-Piano Ensemble

Christopher Adler The Toy Robot’s Mechanical Heart (2015) for Toy Piano and Glockenspiel

Casey Cangelosi Bad Touch (2013) for Performer & Playback

Lisa Streich Matrioshka (2022) for Paetzold, Pump, Melodica, and Egg Cutter

– INTERMISSION–

Juan Manuel Jaramillo Lleras Cranberry Sauce Premiere for 3 Toy Pianos

Sascha Lino Lemke The Dark Side of the Moon Premiere Concerto Grosso for 3 Vacuum Cleaners, Melodica, Midi Toy Piano, and Fader Ballet

Beatles/Tanoto Strawberry Fields for Soprano and Non-Piano Ensemble

Moritz Eggert Air Kisses for Sextet

 

November 18, Evening 2 (Duration: 90 minutes)

 

Seong-Yeon Kwon Toy Piano Concerto for Piano, Toy Piano & Playback

Greg Beller The Call from the Opera The Fault (2023) for Mezzosoprano and Non-Piano Ensemble

Lisa Streich Créche (2019) for Solo Piano

Tam Thi Pham What is behind? Premiere for Piano and Electronics

Shimo Zhou Not my Quipao (2019) for Performer and Amplified Quipao

Alvin Lucier Nothing is real (Strawberry Fields) for piano, amplified teapot, recorder and mini sound system 10′

Benjamin Scheuer Strange Metamorphoses (2023) for Toy Quartet and Samples 15′

Seong-Yeon Kwon Seocho Tango for Piano and Toy Piano 4’45”

–INTERMISSION–

Steffen Wolf Up There (2020) for Dancer and Toy Piano 10′

Lisa Streich Cadenza from Laster (2018/9) for Motorized Piano and Assistant 6′

Ruben Zahra The Worm Crawl (2021) for Toy Piano and Soundtrack 4′

Sergei Rachmaninoff/Tanoto​ Little Red Riding Hood, Op. 39, No. 6 (1916-7) for 3 Toy Pianos and 3 Melodicas 3′

Greg Beller The Baby from the Opera The Fault (2023) for Mezzosoprano, Baritone, and Non-Piano Ensemble 10′