Projects
“Every human being is an artist…”
Joseph Beuys
Welcome to the part of my website which is devoted to education and community projects I am involved in! Why are they, next to my operatic career, so important to me? Because I strongly believe that communicating and expressing oneself through sound and movement is an ability all humans share, regardless of age, cultural and national background or mental or physical disabilities. For professional artists movement, visual or vocal expression is what we make our living with and what fuels us with purpose and joy. However, I believe that exploring these expressive skills is something everyone would benefit from. It enriches our communication skills, our perception of self and others. It awakens our senses so we can experience the world around us in all its visual and acoustic abundance. I strongly believe that when our era challenges us with post-truth, climate change and big changes in society, deriving from the migration crisis, we should investigate and invest into things we all, as humans, have in common, and the ability to express oneself artistically is one of them.
I have learned during the COVID-19 crisis that the internet and technology are in no way an enemy of what we call a real deep human connection. Most workshops I offer can be successfully conducted online. My belief is that technology when fully embraced with all its advantages and disadvantages can enable artistic practices and encounters for people across the globe and therefore build bridges and strengthen our human bond.
Das moderne Mädel
Wie klingt Freiheit?
How does freedom sound like?
Composition/improvisation workshops in cooperation with Oper Bonn and BTVN 2020 (Beethoven’s Jahr 2020)
I was invited by composer PRASQUAL to design and conduct a series of workshops for schools and adults. The themes of these workshops derive from the most important questions that the pieces presented at the time at the Oper Theater Bonn challenge us with, for example “freedom” in the context of Beethoven’s Fidelio, “wisdom” in the context of Goethe’s Faust, “subconsciousness and association” in the context of Mauricio Kagel’s Stadtstheater. Workshops contain a philosophical element, where students are invited to discuss and share experiences as well as practical elements, where participants engage in improvised theater scenes and improvise on simple instruments designed according to the topic of the workshop. During the pandemic, workshops are also conducted online with a focus on “the sounds of lockdown”.
eSpaces of Encounter
interdisciplinary workshops
I am is a part of the “Embracing the nknown” – a group of 6 artists of different disciplines (jazz, opera, theatre, visual arts, art therapy, intercultural studies, dance) who came together during the COVID – pandemic and started a project with interdisciplinary online workshops.
We taught workshops for students and faculty of four European universities associated within EUGLOH (European University Alliance for Global Health).
Zauberklänge-Dinge
music with everyday objects
Together with composer PRASQUAL we offer an improvisation workshop which uses everyday objects as tools of communication and musical expression.
Participants are invited to not only improvise with kitchen and office supplies but also to reflect on the art of communication, develop curiosity and a no-judgement attitude while listening to each other, and interpreting non- verbal language.
This workshop has been be conducted both in person (for example during the community project KulturSommer Festival organized by KLUG e.v. in Köln) and online (hosted by Wuppertal Bergische Musikschule).
Songs for the City
a window concert and an online exhibition of the documentation of the concert
In June 2020 I was invited by choreographer Richard Siegal together with a pianist and composer PRASQUAL, to give a concert from the window of his apartment. A large crowd watched this event from their windows, balconies, cars and from the street below. A true community bond was created that night. Many people recorded us with smartphones and their films were used during an online exhibition organized by Stn:ort 2020 Summer of Windows Festival
Voice Teaching
For over 10 years now I have maintained a small voice studio with a limited number of students, whom I am excited to accompany on their vocal journey. I have had a pleasure to teach professional singers as well as people who want to improve their performance of public speaking, for example teachers, attorneys, politicians and tv presenters.
In my teaching I focus on helping the voice to function healthily and effectively so we can sing or speak in a powerful way without getting vocal fatigue or feeling “disconnected” from our own vocal expression.
I design and shape vocal exercises individually based on my expertise, intuition and the information the student gives back to me. I believe that each voice student has completely different needs and each voice is like a unique watermark of the students physical and emotional being.
