Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Leuphana Establish Cooperation
2024-11-04 Lüneburg/Berlin. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) and Leuphana University Lüneburg will cooperate starting in October 2024 as part of the Leuphana Concert Lab. The specific topic of this cooperation will be the Musikwoche Hitzacker, which the MCO leads as Artistic Director from 2024 to 2028.
Founded in 1997, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is one of the most renowned chamber orchestras worldwide. As a democratic and globally touring collective, the ensemble also serves as a model for an open society based on dialogue. It is led by its 50 members alongside its Berlin-based management. The MCO regularly explores new horizons with its groundbreaking programs and formats.
Leuphana University Lüneburg is known as a place for inspiring study, transdisciplinary research, ingenuity, personal development, and social commitment. It has received numerous awards for its development as a humanistic, action-oriented, and sustainable university, as well as for its support of startups. A special feature of the university is its interdisciplinary study model.
The Leuphana Concert Lab is a transdisciplinary project that brings together students from all faculties with musicians and partners from academia and the music business. In seminars and workshops, they discuss and work on overarching social issues and challenges. In the current semester, the students are developing concert formats and educational strategies around the topic of “transformation” and applying them in concrete projects in the region.
“We see this cooperation as a great opportunity to network with institutions in the region as part of our artistic direction of Musikwoche Hitzacker, and to exchange ideas with Leuphana students. By involving them in the concept for Musikwoche 2026, we want to increase the relevance of the festival, especially for young people", says Janina Rinck, Development Manager of the MCO.
“For us as a university, the cooperation with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra offers an outstanding opportunity to live transdisciplinarity in teaching and research. The students can work with an exciting artistic partner on current issues, and gain insights into practice. At the same time, students experience a high level of self-efficacy through the concrete implementation of the Musikwoche”, explains Prof. Dr. Sigrid Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Project Director of the Leuphana Concert Lab.
The 39th edition of Musikwoche Hitzacker, “Bewegte Zeiten”, will take place from February 28 to March 9, 2025. The full program is available here.