UPPER LUSATIA
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Görlitz Jazz FestivalDates:
American Nights at Schmochtitz Music FestivalDates: The American Nights under the title ‘The American Way of Music’ are the 2007 highlight of Schmochtitz Music Festival. These open-air concerts take place in the park of Bischof Benno House in an old manor complex and are given by such ensembles as the well-known Rachér Saxophone Quartet. Others feature orchestra, soloists, fireworks and a corresponding choice of food and drink. Tickets: New Lusatian PhilharmonicIn addition to its extensive work as the orchestra of Görlitz’s Musical Theater, the New Lusatian Philharmonic performs more than 40 symphony concerts every season in Görlitz, Zittau, Bautzen, Hoyerswerda and Kamenz. The program ranges from the great symphonies by Mahler and Shostakovich to contemporary composers and crossover projects, taking in Schumann, Grieg and Beethoven on the way. Particular attention is paid to the nurture of church music. Tickets:
Night shift at the Lusatian Mining MuseumDates: Where once briquettes were made, the Lusatian Mining Museum and Senftenberg’s ‘Neue Bühne’ Theater now invite their visitors to a night shift, in the briquette factory of Knappenrode. After years of quiet, the spirit of this place is given a form made of flesh and blood, with a long leather apron and a face smeared with soot. The backdrop is made of the atmosphere frozen from the last shift. After a tour, music and a hearty meal await the visitors in the factory yard, lit by torches and braziers. Tickets:
transNATURALE Festival of Sound and Light Dates: The transNATURALE at Bärwald Lake is a new festival of sound and light in Upper Lusatia, which is representative of the transformation of the former open-cast mining region into a new cultural and natural landscape. The largest lake in Saxony is changed into a cultural stage with multi-media performances on the 16 miles of promenade along its banks, for instance in the almost 2000-foot-long turbine house of the old power station at Boxberg. The illuminations on cooling towers and the boilerhouse of the new power station are visible from far away. The festival has become a magnet for everybody who loves modern art forms or people who just want to experience an unusual spectacle. Tickets:
Lusatian International Festival of FolkloreDates: The unmistakable atmosphere of this folklore festival probably comes from the mentality of its hosts: the Sorbs, the smallest Slavonic ethnic group in Europe, who have been living among Germans for centuries and maintaining their languages and traditions. Folklore groups from the Sorbian homelands of Upper and Lower Lusatia and their descendants show the many sides and vivacity of Sorbian folklore. Again in 2007, folklore from other continents is shown additionally in the picturesque settings of Sorbian villages and the historical town center of their ‘capital’, Bautzen. The whole experience of the festival is rounded off with special gastronomic delights of Sorbian hospitality and regional handicrafts. Hoyerswerda Music Festival Dates: For 41 years, this festival has featured musical forms of expression and appealed to visitors in many ways, with its symphony concerts, chamber music, soloists, jazz and children’s music. Young artists from Hoyerswerda Music School, choirs and musicians who consider their music-making to be a hobby perform alongside maestros like Giora Feidman, Matthias Eisenberg and Igor Oistrach. An important tradition is the concert of the Sorbian Artists Federation with works written by Sorbian composers. Tickets: +49 (0)3571 904105
Folklorum Festival of Cultures Dates: The ‘Cultural Island of Einsiedel’ to the north of Görlitz is not only a huge adventure playground for children and young people, with fantastic buildings and wooden sculptures, but also the backdrop for interesting events, the biggest of which is the Folklorum, which takes place on the first weekend of September every year. At the foot of Germany’s first tree-house hotel, dancers and musicians from the German folk scene and international artists entertain visitors young and old, even encouraging them to join in. 2007 sees performers from Russia and Spain. Tickets: +49(0)35891 4910
Görlitz TheaterIn addition to the nurture of its international music and dance repertoire, Görlitz Theater concerns itself with the cultural history of the three-nations region of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Current productions are dedicated to Elector Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, whose outstanding park in Bad Muskau is a UNESCO world heritage site and which, like the town of Görlitz/Zgorzelec, is situated in both Germany and Poland. Premiering in 2007 is the production of ‘Jakob Böhme and the Plague in Görlitz’, which deals with the town’s greatest son and mystic, who had a part in influencing the great German philosophers. Tickets:
Hoyerswerda Singer-Songwriter Festival Dates: Every last weekend in November since 1997, the ‘Culture Factory’ of Hoyerswerda has been hosting a festival for singer-songwriters from all over Germany, in which twelve selected participants compete against each other. Established artists of the genre meet for workshops on song accompaniment, performing and text work. Audiences in 2007 are again entertained with concerts given by the prize-winners and others given by renowned artists, as well as exhibitions, films and discussions. Tickets: +49(0)3571 405980
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