Gegen den Strich: the 6th KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen

With the KunstFestSpielen 2015 under the motto “Gegen den Strich”, Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Schweeger, the artistic director of the festival for the past six years, will be taking her leave. She has compiled a programme in which international artists and ensembles will come to perform in Hannover-Herrenhausen alongside renowned local artists. In May and June 2015, several familiar guests will be returning to the KunstFestSpiele including Musicbanda Franui, Jan Lauwers & Needcompany, the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop and the Ensemble ascolta, and the festival will also provide a stage for well-known local artists such as musica assoluta, Mädchenchor Hannover, Das Neue Ensemble und Ania Vegry.

The artistic director of the festival Elisabeth Schweeger comments: “Lateral thinkers will be at the focus of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen – role models in unorthodox thinking. Unconventional individuals who through their audacity have changed art – and with it the view of our world – and still continue to do so today. It is again my great pleasure to be able to present such a powerful and highly varied programme in the special location Herrenhausen.”

The festival opens on 29 May with “Pitch 43_tuning the cosmos” with instruments and works by the visionary Harry Partch and the world premiere of a work by the composer Carola Bauckholt performed by the ensemble Musikfabrik on Partch’s sound objects.

The programme of the KunstFestSpiele 2015 will feature three special thematic areas. The beginning of the festival will focus on China the land of theatre, a country where numerous theatrical forms are in danger of being forgotten. Danny Yung (*1943, Hong Kong) and Li Xiao Ke (*1979, Shanghai) take highly different approaches to Chinese theatre traditions. “Flee by Night” by Yung will receive its European première in Herrenhausen on 30 May and Li Xiao Ke will present performances specially created for Hanover.

The second focal point takes its name from Claude Debussy’s piano cycle “En blanc et noir” with three consecutive recitals featuring outstanding keyboard soloists. Florian Hoelscher will perform the cycle “Miniature estrose” by Marco Stroppa, followed by Igor Levit with a programme including compositions by Frederic Rzewski and Franz Liszt among others. This will be rounded off by Cameron Carpenter and his “International Touring Organ” in the Galerie Herrenhausen.

The third area of focus is “Salto vocale” which displays the richness of the human voice in all its facets within a single evening. In the Orangerie, the “extreme vocalist” David Moss and the Swiss Christian Zehnder will come together to experiment with different types of folk music such as yodelling and Mongolian overtone singing. Simultaneously, the Galerie will be transformed into a tonal space: Terry Wey (countertenor, tenor) and Ulfried Staber (baritone, bass) will progressively sing and record all forty voices of the Renaissance motet “Spem in Alium” by Thomas Tallis over a period of seven hours. Members of the public are free to wander back and forth between these two locations.

As in previous years, the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen will also display art in the garden: on 21 May, huge bales made from used coloured drinking straws will be created under the supervision of the artist Michael Beutler in imitation of the hay bales seen in the countryside. The installation “Ballenernte” [bale harvest] can be visited in the Großer Garten up to the end of the festival.
In the foyer of the Orangerie, the light installation “Lyrical Lights” by Rens Veltman can also be experienced throughout the duration of the festival. A mere few points of light are perceived in three-dimensions by visitors and create the optical illusion of a couple walking through the room.

In the first week of June, the Academy of Play will bring together schoolchildren and artists; this year individuals such as Ecke Bonk from the association freitagsküche and Politik zum Anfassen e.V. will be offering workshops.

Marlis Drevermann, Head of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Schools in Hanover, comments: “Elisabeth Schweeger has succeeded in creating an artistic programme with numerous facets and events for the KunstFestSpiele. I would particularly like to mention the Academy of Play in which hundreds of children and young people have been brought into direct contact with creative artists over the years. We offer her our sincere thanks for her efforts in constructing the inimitable festival format of the KunstFestSpiele.”

As in previous years, visitors of the Hanover “Night of Museums” will also be able to experience a performance at this year’s KunstFestSpiele on 13 June: in “Ringlandschaft mit Bierstrom – Ein Wagner-Areal” by Georg Nussbaumer, the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop will occupy the Galerie for a period of 16 hours. The cooperation with the foundation Volkswagenstiftung will also be continued this year in a Herrenhausen Discussion focused on the festival motto “Gegen den Strich – Von der Notwendigkeit zivilen Ungehorsams” (“Against the Grain – On the Necessity of Civil Disobedience”).

On 5 March, the artistic director of the festival Elisabeth Schweeger and Marlis Drevermann – Head of the Department for Cultural Affairs and Schools in Hanover – will present the festival programme to the press.

Tickets for the festival can now be booked in advance at all CTS-/ Eventim booking offices and via the advance booking office in the Künstlerhaus Hanover.