New Scenes

The Deutsche Oper Berlin congratulates the winners of the International "New Scenes" Composition Competition, organised jointly with the "Hanns Eisler" Academy of Music early in the year. The winning works will be performed for the first time on 8th April 2013 in the Tischlerei, the new performance space of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Further performances will be held on 11th, 17th and 18th April. The winners are: Evan Gardner, Stefan Johannes Hanke and Leah Muir.

Submissions were invited from composers aged 35 or under. The three winning entrants picked by a jury headed by Prof. Wolfgang Rihm received a grant for the composition of an original work of musical theatre. In the "New Scenes" follow-up to the competition the three composers will base their works on a libretto by Christoph Nußbaumeder. Each work will be staged by a student director and performed by singers and musicians studying at the "Hanns Eisler" Academy of Music. The libretto that will form the basis of the compositions is entitled "I will not die. In my bed" and is dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya. The works will be staged by Tamara Heimbrock, Michael Höppner and Eva-Maria Weiss.

By 1st July 2012 51 valid entries had been received. The most interesting and promising of the works were selected in a process of step-by-step elimination. The jury was made up of Wolfgang Rihm, Dorothea Hartmann (Artistic Manager, Tischlerei, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Prof. Claus Unzen (Director of Singing / Musical Theatre, "Hanns Eisler" Academy of Music), Prof. Manuel Nawri (Director of Echo Ensemble and Musical Director of "New Scenes", "Hanns Eisler" Academy of Music) and Curt A. Roesler (dramaturg, Deutsche Oper Berlin).

In cooperation with Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“
Kindly supported by taz.die tageszeitung