Retrospective: The State of Listening—Manifestations and Spaces of Relationship (06.09.2026)

For the Democracy Weekend at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig from September 4–6, 2026, students from Jule Flierl and Anna Zett’s performing arts class, together with the Gewandhaus Choir under the direction of Gregor Meyer, developed the project “Lauschzustand – Manifestations and Spaces of Relationship.” On election Sunday in Saxony-Anhalt, the students presented performative pieces along a route accompanied by the Gewandhaus Choir. The route led through the Gewandhaus to locations with a special atmosphere and culminated in a choral gathering in the Mendelssohn Hall, creating a shared musical experience of connection.

For this project, academy and students engaged in artistic work on the themes of political participation and public presence. The starting point was a reflection on neutrality as a fiction and democracy as an open group process that challenges us emotionally. The “score”—a kind of musical score or notation for performances—opened up a space of possibilities for formulating temporary, self-defined rules in the sense of game instructions that give rise not only to musical performances but also to social encounters.At the heart of the semester-long project—which resulted in both solo and group works—is the choir as a living space for relationships: a polyphonic structure that at times asserts a collective voice and at other times invites communication. In various experimental and conceptual ways, the participating artists explore the voice as a mediator between the inner and the outer, the body and language, the individual and society. Democracy emerges here as an open group experience—sustained by listening, vulnerability, and the challenge of being present together.Program:

Augustusplatz

“Tea Time,” dialogue performance, Soschka
“Prolog Standard Rifle (G95A1, MG4, G28, G22 through G25, MG50-1, MZF1, GLM, AG36, MG6, MP7A1, MP5K, Mauser Model 98, and many more)” Performance, Rahel Scharabi
“es kippt es,” Performance by Max Grund with the Gewandhaus Choir
“SCHREI (chor),” choral composition, Robin Becker with the Gewandhaus Choir

Main Hall

“Stabil,” 3 compositions for solo voices, choir, and organ, Véra Marie Deubner, with the Gewandhaus Choir
“I am the see” vocal performance, Ossama Shalgheen (Aseem)
“Organum2026,” composition for choir and organ, Luca Diebold with the Gewandhaus Choir

Mendelssohn Hall

“Dämmerungen,” a participatory composition for solo, duo, and choir, Lotta Beckers, To Fabek, and Johanna Gruber with the Gewandhaus Choir

The Democracy Weekend at the Gewandhaus is taking place for the fifth time this year, this time under the theme “Reading the Signs.” It promotes discourse and social reflection, inviting the audience to collectively examine, contextualize, and think through current developments. It is organized in cooperation with the Saxon State Agency for Political Education and is supported by the Commerzbank Foundation, the Krupp Foundation, the Stiftung Zukunft Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, and the “Zukunftswege Ost” initiative.

More information about the Democracy Weekend at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig...