Kurt Weill Festival 2024

Poisonflower or the root of all evil

Bauhaus Building
24 Feb 2024, 5 pm

In a fiery trialogue of music, poetry and digitally visualised art, actress Elisabeth Kanettis and cellist Cristina Basili embark on a journey of discovery through the perception of femininity in time. The skilfully staged animations by Reinhard Maximilian Gantner create a mystical but also lively atmosphere in which the pieces by Billie Holiday and Vivaldi, George Gershwin and Tokio Hotel suddenly fit together perfectly. Skilfully interwoven and put into context by Elisabeth Kanetti’s interpretation of various lyrical works, an overall picture emerges that combines drama, comedy and harsh criticism of humanity. They address the stereotypes that have shaped and continue to shape us in the past and present and find solutions that can lead us into a positive future. A lively, colourful and challenging experience that you won’t forget in a hurry!

Guided tour “Highlights in the shadow of the Bauhäusler”

Bauhaus Museum Dessau
25 Feb 2024, 11 am

The signs of the times were favourable for young women after the First World War. More young women than men enrolled in the first semester at the state Bauhaus in Weimar and in the early days of the school, the opportunities seemed to be equal. However, the time was not yet ripe for equal participation in educational opportunities, which is why today we often only know about the works of male students. Together with Dr Monika Kaiser, immerse yourself in the life and work of the female students at the Bauhaus and be surprised by the highlights hidden in the shadows of the male Bauhäusler…

“Die netten Koketten”

Bauhaus Building
25 Feb 2024, 2 pm

Free, spirited femininity wrapped up in chansons from the 1920s with a modern twist? That’s what Charlotte Welling, the wild, intense and spirited one, and Valerie Barth, the classy, elegant and romantic one, offer. The two young artists form an energetic mix that guarantees the best entertainment and plenty of variety! Goosebumps are guaranteed with soulful piano playing or sparkling energy with the fusion of acting and singing. The chansons, some of which are over 100 years old, are given a modern, fresh twist by the two bundles of energy and bring their characters to life on stage. The two musicians show that the charm of the 1920s can be used to inimitably portray the modern image of femininity and skilfully capture its complexity. The woman as a mystery? Sure, but modern please!

Les Femmes de Kurt Weill

Bauhaus Building
2 March 2024, 8 pm

The “Roter Mond Ensemble” invites you to accompany two women on their journey through life. Follow them from a dimly lit bar in Berlin in the mid-1930s, via a street café in Paris to a bar in New York in the 1940s. They search for home, freedom and love and go their own ways despite sharing the same stations. The journey of the two women mirrors the stages in Kurt Weill’s own life, who himself once embarked on this journey. The works he created in each city tell the story of the two fictional women. It begins with the works from his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht in Berlin, such as the Bilbao Song, Surabaya Johnny, Pirate Jenny and the Cannon Song. In turn, pieces such as Youkali, J’attends un navire, Trouble Man and This time next year find their place in Paris and New York. The scenic concert was staged by director Stephanie Kuhlmann. Accompany the friends Nanna and Marie together with the Roter Mond Ensemble and travel with them through the various stages of Kurt Weill’s life and work.

Closing concert of the project“Jugend goes Weill”

Bauhaus Building
4 March 2024, 7 pm

The “Jugend goes Weill” project has been an integral part of the Kurt Weill Festival for several years and has been a co-operation between the Kurt Weill Society and the Gymnasium Philanthropinum in Dessau from the very beginning. In a three-day workshop, a collage of songs, texts and drama is created by pupils from the Dessau grammar school and presented as part of the Kurt Weill Festival. For several years now, the participants have been guided and supported by the experienced and dedicated chanson singer Anna Haentjens, who is also no stranger to Kurt Weill Fest visitors. Further support will be provided by Laura Wild, who has taken over from Birgit Krüger as head of the theatre group at the Philanthropinum, as well as by German teacher Patricia Liebich and Susanne Heft from the Kurt Weill Society. Musical accompaniment will be provided by pianist Annemarie Hofmann and cellist Frithjof Eydam.

Prize winners’ concert Local Heroes

Bauhaus Building
7 March 2024, 8 pm

Kat Kit from Rhineland-Palatinate is the winner of this year’s round of the national “Local Heroes” competition. Sitting at a small table surrounded by numerous LED lights, the young woman impressed not only the coaches but also the judges of the non-profit event with her soft experimental pop. Kat Kit describes her art as “music for introverts” and wants to use it to bring people together and give them peace. In songs such as the winning hit genuine, she achieves this by describing the difficulties faced by people who go their own way and whose independence and actions are all too often called into question. Using her midi controller and a voice processor, she edits her songs as she performs them, creating such a multi-layered soundscape that it results in a very unique, fascinating sound that is unique to Kat Kit. Let yourself be captivated and sucked into the world of Kat Kit on 7 March 2024 at 8 pm in the fantastic and atmospheric setting of the Bauhaus Dessau.

Guided tour “Women in the Masters’ Houses”

Gropius House
10 March 2024, 11 am

The architectural shell of the Masters’ Houses in Dessau bears witness to the visions of a new life. But what was life like inside the studio houses? Did the role of the masters’ wives in these rooms really correspond to the ideas of a modern life? As part of the tour of the Masters’ Houses in Dessau, we will explore the question of the extent to which “the private sphere” was not also political in the houses of the Bauhaus masters and which living environments the masters’ wives were able to realise for themselves and their families in this ambience. In addition, we will show by way of example how the tradition of Bauhaus history has repeatedly ignored this part characterised by women and relegated it to a shadowy place.

The complete programme for the Kurt Weill Fest 2024 can be found online at kurt-weill-fest.de.