The instruments donated by the Hans Thomann Foundation are part of the new Music Workshop1 of the Bremen Philharmonic, which has been reconceptualised for the move into the new home of the Bremen Philharmonic in Hall 1 of the Bremen Tabakquartier. The Bremen Philharmonic moved into its new home in the summer of 2022. The Tabakquartier, a listed industrial area of the former Brinkmann tobacco factory, was redeveloped with mixed use in mind with a large-scale investor-financed conversion: apartments, offices, a centre for the liberal arts, gastronomic offerings, a daycare centre and the orchestra’s new home with offices and a multi-purpose (concert) hall with 380 seats were built there.

Central parts of the Philharmonic building – two rooms adjacent to the foyer (100m² in total) – serve as a space for interactive forms of music education by the orchestra’s “Music Workshop” department. On the one hand, the aim is to make orchestra music accessible to a broad audience (audience development), not only passively (reception), but through active, playful experimentation. On the other, the new concept enables users (children, young people and adults) to gain self-effective access to their own musical creativity. An important part of this is trying out orchestra instruments. Due to the proximity and direct connection of the two rooms of the music workshop to the concert hall and the foyer, it is also possible to use them in connection – e.g. in the form of an opening before or after concert events (room 1), workshops (room 2), etc.

While the new offer continues proven formats of the orchestra’s music education work, it also includes new, digital modules. In addition to analogue stations for trying out different mechanisms for sound generation, there are also digital offers, on site in the Tabakquartier (see photos below), but also online (accessible “24/7”). All exhibits are self-explanatory in order to make people want to try things out and reduce threshold fears, with digital added value.

With the donation from the Thomann Foundation, the small instrument fund with child-friendly string instruments already existing was expanded into a complete range of symphony orchestra instruments. All instruments are permanently and securely mounted on one of the walls in the music workshop (see first photo below) – in the form of a classic orchestral setup – and can be removed from the wall for testing.

The rooms of the music workshop were inaugurated with an interested public in attendance for the first time on the opening weekend of the orchestra’s entire new home (10/11 September 2022).

It is estimated that around 4-5,000 visitors found their way to the new home of the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra that weekend. The majority of them also visited the two new rooms of the music workshop.

In future, the instruments provided by the Thomann Foundation will be used in targeted workshops for children, young people and adults in order to introduce them to various orchestra instruments in a playful way.

The young people involved and the entire team of employees would like to thank the Hans Thomann Foundation for the generous donation and support in the implementation of our project.

Author:
Claudia Beißwanger
13 Nov 2022