Review: Performing Violence

Students of Integrated Design, Digital Media, Music and Liberal Arts critically addressed the question of continuities of violence in relation to gender and its social attributions in an interdisciplinary performance project.

On Sunday, May 15, 2022, 35 students presented a concert performance in a Thai boxing martial arts studio in Bremen. The students succeeded in opening up this unconventional venue for classical music concert formats and thus appealing to a broad audience. The performance focused on music by Castaldi, Gesualdo and Franck, among others, as well as two world premieres by Paul Zoder and Reika Hattori from the classes of Prof. Jörg Birkenkötter and Prof. Kilian Schwoon. 

The interdisciplinary teaching format and collaborative performance focused on the deconstruction of aggression and violence. The participants wanted to emphasize that nowadays it is important to form a choir of connected individuals and to ask questions about spaces for a different togetherness. How much contact can we stand after the time of immunization and isolation, how close can we get?

The project was initiated by Prof. Joachim Held and Prof. Raphael Sbrzesny and further developed and performed by many other teachers, students and guests.

In addition, Performing Violence was accompanied by the colleagues of the digitalization project "We Dig It!". Digital spaces were conceived as safe spaces that are designed and performed together. 

With: Jana Soon Giebel (ID), Lauren Müller (ID), Chiara Trojke (DM), Aimee Dietrich (DM), Vera Deuber (ID), Jone Zilinskaite (ID), Feodor Rousse (DM), Juan Solorzano (DM), Elisabeth Scharnick (M), Jemma Thrussel (M), Alma Stoye (M), Alice Stoye (M), Rui Namagoa (DM) , Samyar Fazelzadeh (M), Reika Hattori (M), Isa Kleinhempel (M), Lucia Bauer (ID, Guest), Jule Denzin (ID), Paul Zoder (M), Melody Ristoski (Guest) Johannes Festerling (M), Berit Riekemann (FK), Lola Atkinson (M), Leah Meier (M), Anna Lodone (M), Johanna Constien (M, Teaching)), Merve Can (ID), Ruth Meisinger (M), Chiara Cecconello (ID, Erasmus student), Ruben Lyon and Christine Claussen (ID, design) Melissa Wedekind (M) et al. a.

Team/ Teachers/ Inputs: Prof. Joachim Held, Christian Camehl, Harry Seelig, Martin Dieckhoff, Lukas Klose, Prof. Dr. Laure M Hiendl (composition and performance, guest), Marie Klemm (dance, guest), Prof. Raphael Sbrzesny et al.

ID: Integrated Design 
M: Music 
DM: Digital Media 
FK: Fine Arts