Encounters

At music festivals and concert series, it is becoming noticeable that the public's familiarity with German composers is still evenly divided between East and West Germany. Composers from the former GDR are practically unknown in the old German Länder. After 40 years of division, the eastern and western halves of Germany have developed their own unique musical traditions in respect to contemporary electronic music. Each year since 2000, the Via nova e.V. (Weimar) has organised the weeklong Spring Festival Days for Contemporary Music in Weimar. For its sixth annual festival in 2005, Via nova has teamed up with Oh Ton e.V. (Oldenburg). The associations have commissioned composers from the old and new German Länder to write original music for joint concerts which will be performed in Weimar and Oldenburg. The organisers have also planned a symposium to examine the present state of the musical field 15 years after reunification.

Applicant: Via nova - Contemporary Music in Thuringia e.V., Weimar (Thuringia)
Project partner: Oh Ton - Advancement of Contemporary Music e.V., Oldenburg (Lower Saxony)
Venues and schedule: Weimar: symposium and concert, 2 April 2005; Oldenburg: October 2005