Stegreif Orchester

»We want to show that making music is actually inside of everyone. And awaken the desire to make music.« –Viola Schmitzer, Stegreif

Singing and Buzzing – that's what the Stegreif Orchester called its big participatory day, which took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon during Beethovenfest 2023 at BaseCamp Bonn. We got participants and Stegreif musicians in front of the camera.

The new fellowship programme at Beethovenfest Bonn is looking for new ideas for the concert life of the future – also in the area of participation and music education. To kick off the programme, the Stegreif Orchester was asked to develop a project in which as many people as possible are offered something to participate in.

There is no better ensemble for the task than Stegreif. »The Improvising Symphony Orchestra« – the name reveals just how extraordinary the musicians are. Their artistic vision of a spontaneous approach to historical music, their joy of transition in a musical and human sense are the best prerequisites for inviting others to make music together. Because for Stegreif, there are no boundaries: they abolish the separation between audience and players in their movement concerts, they have a non-hierarchical ensemble without a conductor and hone the most virtuoso transitions between musical text and improvisation, between classical, jazz, Latin or klezmer.

»The idea of Sausen und Brausen is to show what otherwise takes place in our rehearsals. For the audience to see us on stage and ask themselves: How did that come about?« –Viola Schmitzer

Making music together with the musicians from Stegreif was a journey of discovery for children and adults alike. Singing together in a pop-up choir, percussion instruction, dance improvisation and a songwriting session were all included.

In addition to Stegreif, other artists also took part in the hands-on day: a workshop on testing boundaries with composer Tomasz Prasqual enriched the day. Frederik Werth and Mylène Kroon presented a performance and sound installation.

The student managers of this year’s festival were also present as coaches and told other young people about their experiences in organising the Stegreif concert Change.Symphony.

»I think it's really nice that the participants are so diverse in age.« –Lea Hladka, Stegreif

The crazy ambience of the BaseCamp with its colourful campers of all stripes was the perfect setting for a party which was just as unusual as the location: it began with performances of new music and improvisation by Stegreif and ensemble reflektor. The live music, which was already very danceable, was transformed with one of the Stegreif Orchestra’s famous improvised transitions into a fierce drop to the set by ensemble DJ Joshua Lutz. Even old Beethoven joined in the party!