In the week from 9 to 13 December, students and teachers from the Zeki Müren Fine Arts High School in our Turkish twin city of Bursa visited us at the academy as part of the ERASMUS+ exchange programme. After being welcomed by Mayor Barbara Akdeniz, a full programme awaited the young musicians. In addition to a guided tour of the city, a visit to the "Sources of Sound" exhibition (Weltkulturenmuseum Frankfurt) and the obligatory visit to Darmstadt's Christmas market, the focus was on musical exchange with lecturers, pupils and students at our academy: A joint performance of Ligeti's Poème Symphonique* for 100 metronomes, voice training with Irmhild Wicking, Djerimba action with Thomas Weiler, a harp workshop with Ute Steffan and transcultural music-making with Jadwiga Frej and Arne Gieshoff were some of the highlights.
We would like to thank Henrik Ruißinger, Jadwiga Frej, Selina Dorschner and Katharina-Helena Busch for their loving and professional support and organisation of the visit.
We look forward to a return visit to Bursa in May 2025!
* The performance of the work for 100 metronomes could be realised thanks to the friendly support of the Kammerkonzerte Darmstadt (1st chairperson Alina Armonas).
