Es ist eine Zeit der Veränderung. #bechange befasst sich in einer intensiven musikalisch-diskursiven Auseinandersetzung mit den unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln auf die Krisen unserer Zeit und zeichnet ihre Facetten mit bunten Farben nach. In Beschäftigung mit den 17 Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung erarbeitet das STEGREIF.orchester über zwei Jahre eine sustainable symphony mit Menschen aus allen deutschen Bundesländern. Bestehend aus Werken der vier Komponistinnen Hildegard von Bingen, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Emilie Mayer und Clara Schumann erwachsen darin vier zusammenhängende musikalisch-szenische Produktionen, die von Erfahrungen und musikalischen Einflüssen befruchtet werden, welche die STEGREIF-Musiker*innen in Workshops mit Menschen im ganzen Land sammeln.

Gustav Mahlers LIED VON DER ERDE gilt als epochales Zeugnis einer europäischen Musikkultur, in dem sich eine brüchig gewordene Welt widerspiegelt. Heute steht Mahlers orchestraler Liederzyklus in einer Welt, in der Kunstschaffende aller Länder und Sprachen mit globaler Umweltzerstörung und Krieg umgehen müssen. Doch statt Abschied zu nehmen von dieser Welt, wollen wir Mahlers Werk weiterdenken: Wie kann ein heutiges „Lied“ klingen und wer würde es singen?

- 1 Earth - 11 Musicians - 111 Melodies -
A chamber music program of the STEGREIF.orchestra

More than a hundred years ago, Gustav Mahler vividly described the beauty of nature in his music - a beauty that could be largely lost in another hundred years if the earth continues to change so drastically by then due to man-made climate change.

The STEGREIF.orchester presents Mahler's melodies from Symphonies No. 1 and 3, Lied der Erde and the Wunderhornlieder, among others, with improvisational lightness, but juxtaposes them dualistically, as with Mahler, with the aspects of transience and destruction at the same time. A reflection of Mahler's musical world at today's apex of time.

The borders are open - whether between countries or genres, between languages or instruments, between unique characteristics and commonalities. Inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the "European Symphony", the STEGREIF.orchestra combines folk songs from Europe with elements from Beethoven's monumental work and lets Europe grow together in the symphony of a colorful continent that speaks from the heart of its people.

What does Mozart stand for? With the concert program #explore_mozart, the STEGREIF.orchester dedicates itself to the free-spirited and masonic thinking and music-making of the 18th century in the environment of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and questions how this can form bridges to current political and social issues. Mozart's ideals, always closely related to the five basic Masonic ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity, tolerance and humanity, meet here with European values and the Inner Development Goals. The five ideals form the pillars of the program and manifest themselves in fifteen-minute chamber music pieces.

A musical metamorphosis
STEGREIF.orchester - Neuköllner Oper - Prinzessinnengarten Kollektiv Berlin

With MOON MUSIC, musicians and active members of STEGREIF.orchester, Neuköllner Oper and the Prinzessinnengarten Kollektiv invite you to a contemplative-interactive performance series in which music and moon phases, forgotten myths, rites and stories connect with body, mind and soul to mobilize new forces. It's springtime, after all!

Creativity emerges from crises.
The STEGREIF.orchestra responds to measures and hygiene concepts with innovative, networked music-making, new spatial concepts and interactive online concerts. Customized concert solutions - live - digital - hybrid. These special concerts can take a wide variety of forms, depending on how they develop. But one thing remains the same: we improvise on classical repertoire. Without conductor. Without sheet music. With the audience in mind.

Classical art music is a pillar of the national and international cultural landscape. It guarantees a unique, nationwide cultural infrastructure. Despite its cultural relevance, a declining trend in its social connectivity is apparent. The large, renowned institutions of classical music are contrasted by the independent scene, which gains new impulses from the creative handling of traditions and whose volume is constantly increasing. While the independent scene embodies flexibility and innovation, the institutionalized orchestras stand for continuity and perfection. But what happens if these characteristics and forces are brought together? Could cooperation between the independent scene and established structures promote inspiration, reflection processes and innovation?

Developing music together! That's the focus of the new project of the STEGREIF.orchestra: BE:Community. People from the most diverse backgrounds, regardless of age groups or cultures, are to meet here and contribute their very own part to a great project. For their new production #bfree, the STEGREIF.orchester brings together music from all corners of Europe and thus dares to take a big step.

The production „Giovanni“ is a genre-bending opera, performed entirely from memory, without a conductor or an orchestra pit. This format connects selections from Mozart's music with newly developed recitative forms and offers a fresh approach to both the musical and staging aspects of the performance. It is also an excellent format for engaging new audiences, especially younger demographics, and planting the seeds for a long term passion for opera. 

The STEGREIF.orchester loves them, the free spirits, revolutionaries and dissidents. All those who had their own ideas about the world and were not afraid to live them. 4 years after #freebeethoven, the orchestra once again dedicates itself to the first independent composer in the history of classical music and his third symphony: Ludwig van Beethoven's "Eroica" focuses entirely on the French Revolution and its values. Originally composed for Napoleon Bonaparte, Beethoven quickly decided, however, that the tyrant was not a hero of history and not a suitable vehicle for the symphony, which itself represents a revolutionary act in music history.

"Symphony" means to bring something to sound together - and that's exactly what the 30 young, cross-genre musicians* of the STEGREIF.orchesters do in #freebrahms with Brahms' Third. The starting point is their own voice - metaphorically and literally, because #freebrahms begins and ends with singing. In four 15-minute movements, with sounds ranging from rock and Balkan music, meditative parts and ballads to salsa rhythms, the symphony is unleashed with the addition of electric guitar, drumset and saxophone.

STEGREIF also presents its cross-genre diversity in chamber music formations with up to twelve musicians*. The STEGREIF.orchestra is a pool of 30 international musicians* who appreciate the heritage of classical composition as well as free improvisation. With choreographic elements, our conductor- and sheetmusic free concert form alternates between recomposition, arrangement and improvisation.

The Great Symphony in C major is Franz Schubert's last symphony...

...thank God not the last one that the STEGREIF.orchestra recomposes. Here, completely different worlds meet the orchestra. The premiere on November 20th led to the next success. Our narrative of this symphony remains hidden at first, but then expresses itself in strong images: Mass and individual as the theme of the 1st movement. The whole orchestra presents itself on the stage, until the hidden clarinet from the audience expresses itself.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, despite its great popularity in Beethoven's time, is considered a rather rarely performed work nowadays...

... but the STEGREIF.orchester transformed it into a new format in its inaugural concert on October 4, 2015. The 1st movement: all musicians* come from all angles in gloomy light, blossoming in Beethoven improvisations, always remembering back to the main theme.