The first Classical:NEXT in Berlin, Germany ends today on a high note: more than 1400 music professionals from 49 countries made this eleventh edition the largest in the music meeting’s history – in spite of a one-year break after the last Classical:NEXT which took place in Hannover in 2022.
“Together we have shown, that there is a big, global community of creatives, who want to renew and push forward the world of classical music” Classical:NEXT director Fabienne Krause enthused: “music professionals from on and behind the concert hall stage, from the recording industry, politics and the educational sector and many more have demonstrated at Classical:NEXT, that this is not only a vision, but that change is already happening in so many different projects and initiatives!”
An independent jury selected the programme of 30 conference sessions (15 of which were chaired by women), mentorings, meetups as well as showcase concerts, project pitches at Colosseum cinema and the alternative cultural hub Holzmarkt. In addition the “meeting of many minds with a similar goal” (as New York based composer and speaker David T Little coined it) offered more than 50 expo stands, special concerts in clubs and a church as well as the opnening concert at one of Berlin’s finest concert halls: the Pierre Boulez Saal.
Board member Clemens Seemann is already focusing on the future of the meeting: “The board and all Berlin partners are overwhelmed by the response. We succeeded in restructuring the event and developing it further. Feedback from the international community and from the city also show: there is even more potential! In 2025 we would like to take the next step and expand the meeting including a festival for the Berlin public.”
The idea to bring Classical:NEXT to Berlin and create synergies with the scene here has worked out. Joe Chialo, Berlin Senator for culture and Social Cohesion already announced, that he wishes to make Classical:NEXT a permanent item in Berlin’s cultural calendar.
Board member Andreas Richter emphasised the impact on the city’s cultural scene: “The classical music capital Berlin is the ideal home for Classical:NEXT. The benefits are mutual: the city’s creative scene and cultural industry will gain enormously from the fact that from now on we will bring together 1,400 or more international music professionals here every year, and that all progressive players will network and exchange ideas on an international level.”
After four intensive days, the programme at the Colosseum came to an end yesterday evening with the announced of the recipients of the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award: the awards were selected by a Nomination Committee consisting primarily of international music journalists and a concluding vote among all delegates:
- Extensión Usach, Chile (a large music department belonging to the University of Santiago de Chile, which offers numerous free concerts in disadvantaged neighbourhoods), represented by its director Andrés Zúñiga Mella
- The US-based Gateways Music Festival (which celebrates the contribution and participation of American classical musicians of African descent in projects and ensembles), the award was received on behalf of Gateways Music Festival by Roger Wilson (Black Lives in Music) who read a speech and greetings by Gateways’ Exectuvie Director Alex Laing.
- and The Sound Voice Project from England, a transdisciplinary performance project exploring voice and identity, working internationally with people with lived experience of voice loss, interdisciplinary professionals, arts venues, festivals and hospitals, received by composer and founder of Sound Voice Hannah Conway.
The Award ended with a showcase of Mario G. Cortizo (Spain) as well as a Candlelight Concert by Fever in Berlin’s Gethsemanekirche Church.
Today, Friday, the official programme ended with a boat trip including a disruptive talk by the David Taylor, UK. “The choice we face is clear: Adapt or die. We have talked enough now, it is time to start doing!”
Classical:NEXT will be back in 2025, again taking place in Berlin, 12–15 May. The call for programme proposals is planned to go out this autumn.