The International Song Centre Heidelberg did not stand still during the cultural lockdown. The new »Lied Me!« project is investing in the future and testing new ways of telling stories in digital space. For the Lied. For the audience.
When a crisis surprises us, we are forced to rethink. Questions must be asked differently, problems solved differently, needs satisfied differently. During these times, we all long for people who provide answers, who know the way out, who shape our future for us: Decision makers, experts, managers. But how much of what we are looking for is actually within ourselves?
»Lied Me!« is looking for innovative ways to rethink art – more precisely the aesthetic experience of Lied – in the digital space. From our own artistic potential, which has to be discovered. Twelve young scholarship holders and alumni of the Lied Academy, i.e. singers and pianists, will be accompanied by three renowned curators over a period of several months so that the art genre of Lied can unfold in twelve short films. The question that concerns everyone in this project: How do we make people addicted to song? And how can digital space help us in this process?
So that the genre of Lied, for which the young musicians are so passionate, can »infect« even more people? Nobody knows the result that will be at the end of this creative path. Twelve moving videos, yes. But what they look like, what story they tell, that remains to be seen. Holger Noltze, Professor of Music and Media at the Technical University of Dortmund, is taking on the task of reflecting on the basic conditions of aesthetic digital experience with the artists. The focus here is strongly on the personal reflection of the connection between artist, artwork and audience: What does digital art need when we think of the audience? Where does it need to be simplified in order to create access? Where must it not be simplified at all in order to preserve the content?
Andrea Thilo, coach and producer, and Thomas Grube, director and producer, will then take over the co-creation process with the Lied Academy’s scholarship holders and alumni. They created the music documentaries »Rhythm is it!« or »Trip to Asia!« with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The curators’ working principle is to ask the musicians the right questions. Especially after a time in which the Internet was flooded with streams and videos: Wait a minute, what would still be possible? What did you miss? Which messages would you like to send? What is your story? The first thing that becomes clear in this project: Nobody owns the truth. But with our own artistic forces we are getting a little bit closer to the digital formats of the future. Lied Me!
The »Lied Me!« short films can be found on our social media channels and here on our website from January.