Strengthening the teaching staff

The HfK Bremen is kicking off the 2026 summer semester with new staff members: two professorships have been filled, and several inaugural lectures are scheduled.

Following Prof. Dr Fahid Amir’s inaugural lecture on philosophy, the next inaugural lecture in the Department of Art and Design will take place in May. Since 1 April 2026, Katharina Nejdl has taken up the Chair of Communication Design in Integrated Design at the Speicher XI campus. At the Dechanatstraße campus, Mario Häring has taken up the Chair of Piano.

Prof. Katharina Nejdl will deliver her inaugural lecture on Wednesday 13 May in the Auditorium, Speicher XI 8. As a designer, developer and lecturer, Nejdl is interested in the use of digital technologies as tools for graphic design. In her work, she explores questions such as: What does a digital publication look like? What forms do we take online? And can AI design posters?

On Wednesday, 1 July 2026, at 6 pm, Prof. Setareh Shahbazi’s inaugural lecture will take place. She took up her post as Professor of Intermedia Photography at the HfK Bremen last winter semester. A detailed introduction to Prof. Shahbazi will follow during her inaugural lecture.  

Prof. Mario Häring will kick off the summer break at the HfK Bremen with his inaugural concert (piano) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, at 6 pm.

When asked why Häring – who played the violin and piano in parallel until the age of 16 – chose the HfK Bremen and what his future plans and aspirations are for his teaching, Häring replied: “I was delighted to receive the appointment at the HfK Bremen because I experienced an open and very warm atmosphere right from the first meetings. I was particularly impressed by the young, motivated teaching staff and the diversity of the courses, which can give rise to many exciting collaborative approaches. In my teaching, I want to create a framework in which curiosity and students’ own ideas are taken seriously. Students should be able to develop and refine their own approach to music, becoming increasingly independent in the process. Exchange plays a major role in this, for example in chamber music, as does the freedom to try out one’s own paths.”

Since 2017, Katharina Nejdl has been working as a freelance graphic designer and developer, creating print publications, posters and corporate identities, as well as websites and interactive installations for the arts and culture sector. Her research focuses on digital editorial formats, AI-driven design processes and the critical use of code as a creative method.

In 2019, she co-founded ­ – a digital literary magazine that explores reading, writing and publishing practices on the internet. The six issues cover topics such as participation, translation and touch. Her design research also includes projects that combine analogue and digital elements through augmented reality, investigate digital communal spaces and reflect on our relationship with the screen.

Katharina Nejdl studied at the Sandberg Instituut Amsterdam, the UdK Berlin and the ZHdK Zurich. In 2023, she received the Stimulerings Talent Development Grant for her project “Creative Coding as a Tool for Design” and developed GridType, a grid-based parametric typeface tool. She gives lectures and workshops and has taught at various art and design colleges, including Burg Halle, the HfBK Hamburg, the KH Kassel, and as an adjunct professor of digital fundamentals at the HBK Braunschweig. 

Even before completing his A-levels, Mario Häring studied as a young student with Prof. Fabio Bidini at the Julius Stern Institute of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTM) under Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. Mario Häring completed his studies under Prof. Kämmerling and Prof. Lars Vogt, graduating with top marks in 2017.

He caused a particular sensation in 2018 by winning second prize at the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition. There, he was also the first prize-winner to receive the Yaltah Menuhin Award, which is awarded for the best and most sensitive chamber music performance in the semi-finals.

Mario Häring made his orchestral debut at the Berlin Philharmonie as early as 2003. Since then, his intensive concert schedule has taken him to renowned venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall in London, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has appeared as a guest at major festivals such as the Festival La Roque d’Anthéron, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Kissinger Sommer and the “Spannungen” Festival in Heimbach. In spring 2017, he was also the first “Artistic Director in Residence” at the “:alpenarte” Festival in Schwarzenberg. Concert engagements have taken him throughout Europe, Asia and the USA.

His chamber music partners include Sharon Kam, Soyoung Yoon, Pablo Barragán, Kian Soltani and Emmanuel Tjeknavorian. He is a member of the Bawandi Trio (with Patrick Hollich on clarinet and Alexandre Castro-Balbi on cello) and the Capybara Piano Quartet (Shuichi Okada on violin; Takehiro Konoe on viola; Minjoung Kim, cello), with whom he became the first piano quartet ever to win the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2023.

In recent seasons, Mario Häring has performed regularly in major European concert halls, where he gave recitals as part of the ECHO “Rising Stars” series with cellist Kian Soltani, as well as with oboist Cristina Gómez Godoy and violinist Sara Ferrández. His discography now comprises three solo albums and five chamber music albums. For the album “Røta”, he was awarded the Opus Klassik 2021 prize together with violinist Ragnhild Hemsing and cellist Benedict Klöckner.

On his latest album “EXTASE”, released by Berlin Classics, he explores the emotions of an imaginary Berlin techno weekend through works by Debussy, Liszt, Connesson, Scriabin, Cage, Rachmaninoff and Wagner.