20. December 2020

Kuba x Studio Musikfabrik

Studio Musikfabrik looks back on an eventful season in 2019! In the fall of 2019, Studio Musikfabrik accepted the invitation of the Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba – the umbrella organization of Cuban artists – to be the first German youth ensemble to participate in the Festival de La Habana de Música Contemporánea. Following this invitation, the cooperation with the national music school, the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán, was started. In the future, a regular, long-term musical exchange is to be established and deepened.

© Janet Sinica
© Janet Sinica

The enthusiasm about the project and the unique experience of cultural and musical exchange was reflected by some of the musicians:

“The exchange gave me a lot of knowledge and also changed my way of thinking a bit. I understood that music is not everything we see written on paper, music goes beyond that. It’s also good for my development as a musician, because it’s always good to learn new things and more so when they’re not so common.”
Mya Rubio Núnez, violin

“It’s a great project! It’s good to have a place where musicians and composers of contemporary music from different countries and ages come together. Moreover, it’s great to include new musicians in the ensemble for a short time and learn to play this music that is often unknown or very little interpreted.”
Vanessa Begerano Pérez, percussion

“I find it an incredible experience to be able to play newly written music that invites you to experience new timbres with your own instrument.”
Camila Pizart Cepero, clarinet

“We were told that the local concert culture, unlike our Western one, can be very loud. People stand up in the middle of a concert, talk loudly, and like to applaud whenever it seems to suit them. In addition, the genre of new music was to come. We expected unfocused Cuban visitors. Prejudices are most fun when you are convinced of the opposite. The looks of the Cuban audience were interested. They listened attentively and seemed to be immersed in the music. After each piece, there was such thunderous applause as you don’t always receive in Germany.”
Samuel Feldmann & Maxime von Koblinski (Studio Musikfabrik)

In conclusion, Guido Lopéz-Gavilán, President of the Festival de la Habana, states:

“The participation of the renowned Studio Musikfabrik, sponsored by the Landesmusikrat Nordrhein-Westfalen, was undoubtedly one of the most important events of the XXXII Festival of Contemporary Music in Havana.

The joint work of the young Germans and Cubans, superbly directed by Peter Veale, was of high artistic quality. Equally high was the human significance, through the friendship and collaboration of the young artists.

We appreciate this beautiful initiative that helped to deepen the friendship between Germany and Cuba and hope that a similar experience can be repeated in the near future.”