From Baroque to Contemporary Music

The breadth of music taught, performed, and lived at the University of the Arts (HfK) Bremen can be experienced to the fullest in two concerts. Students are rehearsing Claudio Monteverdi's “Il Ballo delle Ingrate” (1608) for November 22, 2025, and the ANM ensemble is including several works by Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, and Younghi Pagh-Paan in the program for René Guliker's inaugural concert as professor of “Ensemble Conducting New Music” on November 27, 2025.

On May 28, 1608, a magnificent royal wedding took place in Mantua: Francesco Gonzaga and Margaret of Savoy sealed their union with elaborate dance and theater performances accompanied by music, including a work from the newly invented genre of opera: Claudio Monteverdi's “L'Arianna,” whose music has been almost completely lost today. Monteverdi's “Il Ballo delle Ingrate” was also performed, celebrating the completely new combination of language, music, and movement with a strong focus on ballet. Students from the HfK Institute for Early Music and Performance Practice will attempt to recreate this on November 22, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sendesaal, Bürgermeister-Spitta-Allee 45, under the musical direction of early music specialist Elam Rotem. In doing so, they deliberately refrain from staged theater, i.e., a contemporary interpretation of the material in terms of content and aesthetics. The stage performance will reflect how it may have been in the 17th century. Therefore, historical gestures will be employed under the direction of Nils Niemann. Carla Linné is responsible for reconstructing historical choreography. Tickets are only available at the box office for €10 (reduced rate €5).

As the new professor of “Ensemble Conducting for New Music,” René Gulikers invites you to his inaugural concert on Thursday, November 27, 2025, at 8 p.m. in the HfK Concert Hall, Dechanatstraße 13-15. Entitled “Berio 100, Boulez 100, Pagh Paan 80,” the concert honors the anniversaries of three influential post-war composers. The program spans from the serialism of Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) to the experimentalism of Luciano Berio (1925-2003) to the East Asian and Western sounds of Younghi Pagh-Paan. The former professor of composition at the HfK Bremen celebrated her 80th birthday in November 2025 and was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit for her extraordinary life's work.

Instead of a retrospective, the program is conceived as a dialogue between three aesthetic worlds that question, complement, and challenge each other. The ANM ensemble—supported by Tanja Tetzlaff (cello), Andreas Mäder (flute), and Christian Hommel (oboe)—plays Luciano Berio's pieces O King (1968), Chemins IV (1975), and Derive 1 (1984) by Luciano Berio, alternating with Mémoriale (1985) and Messagesquisse (1976) by Pierre Boulez, as well as Wundgeträumt (2005) by Younghi Pagh-Paan. Admission is free on this evening.