The Maulwerker ensemble was founded late in 1977, appeared in subsequent years with a fluctuating array of performers until, around 1988/89, it coalesced into its current formation.
The ensemble premiered Schnebel’s most important works for music theater, created either during the rehearsal process with the Maulwerker or, like Schau-Stücke and the Kafka-Dramolette, composed expressly for the group. And Schnebel’s fundamental work of modern vocal music, the open score Maulwerke, has been realized by the ensemble in a variety of versions and stagings.
The Maulwerker spring from highly diverse artistic backgrounds such as singing, composition, performance, intermedia arts, instrumental music, acting and directing. Besides their activities in the ensemble, each Maulwerker is also active as a soloist, and the ensemble sees itself as a partnership of individual artistic personalities.
They are specialists at the intersection of music and theater and music and language, they operate where music and space, sound and silence interpenetrate.
The Maulwerker a vocal ensemble — music performers — music theater-makers — a composers’ collective.
In addition to the classics of new (vocal) music and experimental music theater, the Maulwerker repertoire focuses on more recent trends, and therefore on active collaboration with composers, radio dramatists, sound artists and directors, as well as on works created by members of the ensemble itself. A lively workshop and teaching activity accompanies their work.