Prep for a finale
Hamburg, DE - 13.12.24 - (Very fast) engagement research in St. Pauli with Ensemble Resonanz
Our weekly team catch up with 3 ever-changing questions…
1 - What was the most significant thing that happened to you this week?
Marleen - Wir waren am Freitag in Hamburg beim Ensemble Resonanz eingeladen, um Community Music vorzustellen. Ich habe bisher noch kein Orchester / Musiker:innen erlebt, die so mit ihrem Ort (St. Pauli) verbunden sind, so viel lokales Wissen haben, positive Energie, Mut und Vision "ihren" Ort zu öffnen, gemeinsam mit allen zu feiern und zugänglich zu machen. In der Mittagspause haben wir eine super schnelle Tour durchs Viertel gemacht, 1000 verschiedene Orte im Schnelldurchlauf gesehen und sehr leckere Falafel gegessen. Es freut mich immer, Menschen zu treffen, die eine ähnliche Vision teilen - gerade für ein Ensemble aus klassischen Musiker:innen ist das in Deutschland sehr besonders!
Matt - Other than the amazing day in Hamburg with Ensemble Resonanz - probably the final Guten Morgen Musik workshop for, and in, Konzerthaus Dortmund. 100 babies and their parents - right on the edge of what is possible in our language-free-early-years-pedagogy (see the planning in “Musik für Alle: A Community Music Handbook”). Great fun and great energy - but also super emotional for us and some of the parents who came and had a little cry with us at the end. They can’t access our regular Thursday morning sessions any more due to Kindergartens - but they still have our songs on their home speakers, and coming back on an occasional Saturday reminds them of that time in their lives - and also music and songs and creativity. A small but very significant reminder of why we do this work. In the words of Matt from Slung Low: “occasionally we see that we win!”
Mareike - Maybe not particularly relevant but I returned to Germany last night. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks with a renewed focus on setting up our work in Chemnitz and planning the PLC year 2025.
2 - What made you feel uneasy?
Marleen - Nach dem Umzug nach Chemnitz gibt es jetzt nur noch eine leere Wohnung, 3 Teller, 4 Gabeln, 2 Töpfe - das erfordert ein bisschen Improvisationstalent... Ich fühle mich, als würde ich an einem Gleis stehen und auf den nächsten Zug warten. Die großen Fragen einer Transitzone kommen auf - was nehme ich aus dem Alten mit ins Neue? Was wünsche ich mir? Was werde ich vermissen? Wer war ich hier, wer bin ich dort? Gleichzeitig ist gerade kein ruhiger Moment, in dem ich darüber nachdenken an - das muss noch ein paar Tage warten.
Matt - Flat viewings and all the handover things in day-to-day life. Not enough time and so many little tiny things... if anyone wants a free Sekretär... please take it!
Mareike - If I am honest, looking at the year ahead makes me feel slightly uneasy. Building a new organisation while setting up a big project in Chemnitz seems a lot. Especially when working full time and being on a different continent. Only this week I realised that sometimes small to dos get lost and I need to work on balancing my energy.
3 - What made you feel proud?
Marleen - Ich bin super super glücklich zu sehen, wie das Community Music Programm in Dortmund mit dem wunderbaren Team, das dort bleibt, weitergeht, eine neue Dynamik bekommt und alles wieder seinen Platz (und auch neue Plätze) findet.
Matt - Watching the Dortmund Community Music Team in action! (From a slight distance) Eileen leading our Kindergarten Festival whilst I watched on and supported from the back of the room, or Nhân leading a guitar section whilst Eileen conducted our Community Orchester and Chor. Seeing the progression, pride, talent, confidence and everything just grow and be brilliant. Being able to very very confidently say “yes it is sad Marleen and I are moving on, but look at who’s here!” And then see very confident responses from participants, community organisations etc - say - “well yes of course - they are simply brilliant, it’s going to be great!” Mega mega proud of them all!
Additionally - seeing other members of the Konzerthaus Dortmund team advocate for, and push for, community music in whatever setting. With confidence, pride, energy - to see the journey that we’ve been on together - and to get to this point. Just extraordinary.
Mareike - Just writing our latest newsletter made me realise how much has happend this year and how much we have already achieved as PLC: Founding a company, developing strong partnerships, gaining support for the work and creating impact - small and big. All within the span of a couple of months.
Dortmund, DE - 11.12.24 - Final rehearsal and setup for our Kindergarten Winterfest
- Marleen & Matt in Dortmund, de- Mareike in Hamburg, DE