BETRIEBS|WERK|SCHAU

About the idea behind the new series

Sophisticated concert programs are the result of complex considerations that should take a back seat to the musical experience at the moment of performance. The same applies to the individual compositions of such a program, which hopefully presents itself to the ear as a finished product. The program booklet often attempts to anticipate and answer the questions that arise for the audience as best as possible.

What hardly plays a role in this tried-and-tested model are your questions arising from the moment of listening, your reaction to the music, and, of course, your wishes. Creating a suitable framework for this is the idea behind BETRIEBS|WERK|SCHAU, our new concert series in the rehearsal room. For each edition, a composer is invited to present one of their own chamber music works. Sung and played by the members of our ensemble and moderated by J. Marc Reichow or Ekkehard Windrich, we explore with you what lies behind the work.

We dive in as deeply as you want: repeat a single passage or an entire section? Explain the meaning of certain playing or singing techniques? Express incomprehension or criticism? Go ahead, we are KlangForum and we take our name seriously. This is about personal contact between performers and audience, and en passant we would also like to show you what the lion's share of our work consists of and where it takes place: not on stage, but here in the rehearsal room. It offers adequate production conditions and costs rent accordingly, but admission to the BetriebsWerkSchau is free and the atmosphere is as attentive as it is informal.

As an opening ritual, each concert is preceded by a Gregorian chant – part of a magnificent, lively repertoire that is waiting to be (re)discovered, just like contemporary music.