We are community musicians

We ensure cultural participation for all through democratic music making projects. Working together to creatively reimagine and transform places, communities, and institutions. We build inspiring co-created artistic works, bringing joy, celebration, and wonder that has lasting impact.

PAPER LANTERN COLLECTIVE is the first community music collective in Germany. We work internationally making brilliant music with brilliant communities and people, making space and helping to push forward the development of community music in Germany and beyond, and more... All done in a fully democratic, hierarchy free collective that aims to reimagine the status quo: in the sector, in society.

We believe that in a world more and more fractured by individualism and polarisation, community creates resilience, brilliance, support, togetherness, democracy - and this is more important than ever. We commit to reimagining and transforming places, institutions, communities with inspiring and ambitious artistic works created with the people, by the people, for the people. Brilliant moments of collective celebration, wonder, and pride within long-term, relevant, and embedded community music projects that ignite change.

ART IS A HUMAN RIGHT - EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST

Collective

Matt Robinson

CO-DIRECTOR (he/him) (en, de)

Matt is an internationally touring and renowned community musician who for nearly two decades has led teams and organisations whilst also working with hugely diverse groups and communities on the ground in the UK, Hong Kong, Norway, and Germany.
Attempting to escape Brexit in 2019, Matt became resident at Konzerthaus Dortmund, tasked with building the first community music programme and team in Germany – transforming the world-class classical institution and its relationship to its city whilst pioneering community music practice in Germany as well as in European classical music settings; actively building the emerging community music sector.

Contact Matt

Marleen Kiesel

CO-DIRECTOR (she/her) (de, en, fr)

Marleen is a community musician, choir director, music theatre mediator, session violinist, animatrice, and community engagement expert. Before co-founding Paper Lantern Collective, Marleen worked with over 12,000 people in Dortmund, running a diverse programme of 25 regular community music projects, from senior singing groups to culturally democratic kindergarten play workshops, and seemingly everything in between in the neighbourhood, youth centres, language schools, old peoples homes, on the streets around Dortmund.
Marleen studied Music for Teaching (Schulmusik) before developing inclusive participatory programmes at Staatsoper Hannover, Oper Graz Austria and at CESMD in Poitiers, France.

Contact Marleen

Mareike Peschau

CO-DIRECTOR (she/her) (de, en, fr)

Mareike is an experienced project manager, social innovator and all-round problem solver having worked as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group where she supported leading organisations, especially in the European Public Sector, in projects on strategy development, project management, impact assessment, and digital transformations. Moreover, she has gained experience working in the cultural sector at Konzerthaus Dortmund and the Jamaican National Commission for UNESCO. Mareike has founded and led different initiatives fostering social change, such as Network of Empathy.
Mareike received a Master in International Security from Sciences Po Paris and holds a Bachelor degree in Liberal Arts & Sciences from University College Maastricht. As part of her Master’s thesis she conducted extensive research on the role of music in peacebuilding which she presented at the Philharmonie de Paris as well as Sciences Po’s Youth & Leaders Summit.