events
The kestnergesellschaft conceives itself as a site for diverse encounters on a broad social basis with current and emerging themes of our time. Therefore, literature, philosophy and theory, music and theater, architecture, fashion, film, design and more all have a recognized place in our program, a tradition existing since the kestnergesellschaft's inception. Taking place at regular intervals today are kestnerlectures and kestnerconcerts.
kestnerlectures
The inaugeral event of the kestnerlectures series took place in April 2004 with Isabelle Graw, publisher and editor of the periodical "Texte zur Kunst" and author of numerous articles and catalogue texts. She introduced her new book, "Die bessere Hälfte – Künstlerinnen im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert" ("The Better Half – Female Artists in the 20th and 21st Centuries"). That same year, Peter Sloterdijk was our guest and spoke to more than two hundred visitors about the USA and its self-image in relation to the world community. The Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn was invited to speak about his work and the concept of social intervention and its relation to artistic work. Other important cultural figures have been our guests, including writers and journalists like Claudius Seidl and Axel Hecht, film scholar Björn-Ole Kamm, actress Oda Thormeyer, architect Annabelle Selldorf and Beat Wyss, art historian and publisher of "art" magazine.
kestnerconcerts
With the kestnerconcerts series, musical performances take place in loose succession in the kestnergesellschaft, physically placing the visual arts in a wider context of discussion and perception. The series entitled Mobile Music initiated by the Neues Ensemble finds an appropriate symbiosis in the program of the kestnergesellschaft, which seeks to consider art from a perspective which transcends genres and to open the house to new trends.
The Neues Ensemble was founded in August 1993 by its members under the artistic direction of Stephan Meier. Since then, these Hanoverians have attained a place among the internationally successful ensembles performing contemporary music. They are characterized not only for their brilliant musicality and outstanding ensemble spirit. but they have also received special attention because of the programmatic concepts with which they deliberately distinguish their performances from typical concert events. They aim at presenting music together with its extra-musical context in a cogent manner that is accessible to everyone. The ensemble opened the cultural program of the German Pavilion at the Expo 2000 and has made guest appearances in Riga, Hamburg (das neue werk), Munich and Cologne (WDR). Its CD "Pierre Boulez – Le Marteau sans Maître" was praised unanimously in specialist publications. The "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik" stated: "The ear, enslaved to the eye, would never be able to give itself over fully to this wonderful flow into which Das Neue Ensemble has transformed this philosophy attempting to become music."
The Neues Ensemble
Rebecca Lenton (flute), Udo Grimm (clarinet), Bernardo Martinez, Christian Schulte (piano),
Stephan Meier (drums), Jutta Rübenacker (violin), Karsten Dehning and Sabine Pfeiffer (violoncello)
supported by
Bureau Culturel Francais, Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, State of Lower Saxony and City of Hanover
kestnerconcerts 2005
ticket 10 € / members 7,50 € / preferred seating 15 € / reduced ticket 7,50 €
The ticket includes free entrance to the current exhibition
phone +49 511 70120 0 / fax +49 511 70120 20