SPARK

Interdisciplinary and collective aspects are also increasingly being tested, discussed and implemented within the individual art forms. In music theatre they have always been practised, they are the basis of the genre and simply inconceivable without them. In recent years, initiatives have been formed independently of each other within the major conurbations to help this art form – which has grown historically through opera but has been neglected in its current forms in many cities – to shine again. In Hamburg, as in Cologne, Stimme X is an initiative that has emerged from the scene to network, combine forces, exchange expertise and promote production. A cooperation of the two platforms beyond city and national borders corresponds seamlessly to the basic idea inherent in music theatre: to create a connection in order to turn a “sum of individual parts” into an even greater, more radiant whole that can offer participation in the overall creative process for as many people and as broad an audience as possible through its collective basic attitude. Collective, non-hierarchical cooperation is not only shown on stage, but can also be lived as a cultural-political signal at the initiator level, so that it can function credibly and above all in the long term.

The discourse and networking format HK-X brings together the music theatre scenes from Cologne and Hamburg that have grown in recent years. The hybrid format comprises four pillars: Workshop, Discourse, Initiation Journey and Open Space and is linked to the presentation format of a new festival in both cities: the SPARK festival in April 2022 and the 49 Stunden Stimme X showroom in Hamburg in May 2022.

 

HK-X is supported by the Performing Arts Fund with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the context of NEUSTART KULTUR.