"The other landscape" New music and poetry

On Monday 19 May at 7 pm, interested parties are invited to an interdisciplinary artistic exchange with Saxon poets, composers and musicians at the Zentralbliothek in the TIETZ.
Angela Krauß, Carl-Christian Elze and Hans Brinkmann will read from their poetry. The composers Jonas Otte, Karoline Schulz, Christian FP Kram and Steffen Reinhold have set poems by Saxon poets to music exclusively for this event. Among others, poetry set to music by Andreas Altmann and Angela Krauß will be premiered.

"Die andere Landschaft" is a project of the Saxon Literature Council, MusikProjektSachsen e. V. and the municipal libraries in Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden. A total of three events will take place, one each in Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden.

Admission is free in each case.

The title "The Other Landscape" takes up a poem of the same name by Andreas Reimann, in which he describes a peaceful future: "The houses are built there as if for people, / where everyone knows everyone else. ... There I fill my glass almost fearlessly / Oh, friends, there I eat grass." This "other landscape" can and should be a place for visions, for alternative perspectives, which are currently in great demand again. But also a place where you can rest and recharge your batteries. A place where certainties are questioned and the tried and tested is rethought. A place of hope and joie de vivre.

The events are supported by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the Cultural Office of the City of Leipzig, the Leipzig Foundation and the German Composers' Association.

Musical programme:

• Christian FP Kram: Three songs based on poems by Andreas Altmann (2025) for soprano, violin and clarinet
• Jonas Otte: Der Morgen graut zuerst (2025) Trio for soprano, violin and bass clarinet based on the poem of the same name by Volker Sielaff
• Karoline Schulz: Ich muss mein Herz üben (2025) Composition on texts by Angela Krauß for soprano, violin and clarinet
• Steffen Reinhold: Vier Lieder (2021/2025) for soprano, violin and clarinet based on texts by Bernd Jentzsch, Bettine Reichelt, Reiner Kunze and Jan Kuhlbrodt

The other dates:

• Tuesday, 20 May, 7 pm, Oberlichtsaal of the Leipzig City Library,
  reading: Jan Kuhlbrodt, Anna Zepnick, Patrick Wilden
• Thursday, 22 May, 7.30 p.m. Central Library in the Kulturpalast Dresden, event room 1st floor, readings by: Janin Wölke, Marit Heuß, Volker Sielaff

Further information:

The poets

Hans Brinkmann was born in Freiberg in 1956. After leaving school and serving in the army, he studied museology in Leipzig. He has been a freelance writer since 1988. His poems have been published in various newspapers and magazines since 1976. He has written catalogue texts for several artists, mostly from Chemnitz, exhibition reviews for the "Freie Presse" and has also worked on art book projects. In 1992, he received a scholarship for a stay at the Villa Massimo (Rome). He later received several working scholarships from the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and was the city writer in Tampere, Finland, in 2019. His latest publication "Fabelbuch" was published by Eichenspinner Verlag.

Carl-Christian Elze was born in Berlin in 1974 and grew up in Leipzig. His father was a zoo vet, so he spent a large part of his childhood at Leipzig Zoo. He later studied medicine for two years, followed by biology and German studies. From 2004 to 2009, he was a student at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. He has published several volumes of poetry and has been awarded the Munich Poetry Prize, the Joachim Ringelnatz Prize for Young Poets and a scholarship at the German Study Centre in Venice. His latest volume of poetry "panik/paradies" has been published by Verlagshaus Berlin.

Marit Heuß was born in Schlema in 1984. She studied German language and literature, art history and art education in Dresden and completed her doctorate in German language and literature in Leipzig, where she also lives. She works as a research assistant at the University of Leipzig. She has taken part in several text workshops, was a finalist in the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin's "Open Mike" competition and has received several scholarships from the Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen and the Künstlerhaus Edenkoben. She received the Kammweg Poetry Prize in 2020. Her poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies, including the renowned "Jahrbuch der Lyrik". Her poetry collection "Verschlissenes Idyll" was published by Poetenladen in spring 2025.

Angela Krauß was born in Chemnitz in 1950. She studied at the Institute of Literature in Leipzig from 1976 to 1979, where she has lived and worked as a freelance writer since 1980. She has received numerous awards for her work. In October 2024, Angela Krauß received the Saxon Literature Prize. She is a member of PEN Germany, the Saxon Academy of Arts, the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz and the Academy of Arts Berlin. Her latest book "Das Weltgebäude muss errichtet werden. You want to live somewhere" has been published by Suhrkamp Verlag. Angela Krauß received the Saxon Literature Prize in 2024.

Jan Kuhlbrodt was born in 1966 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) and lives in Leipzig. He studied political economy in Leipzig, philosophy in Frankfurt am Main and at the German Literature Institute. He worked as a teacher in a project for young offenders and as an antiquarian bookseller and was editor of the literary magazine EDIT. Today, Jan Kuhlbrodt works as a poet, author and lecturer and is one of the editors of the "New Poetry Series" of the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony. His most recent publication was the highly acclaimed volume "Krüppelpassion oder vom Gehen", for which he was awarded the Alfred Döblin Prize. His latest volume of poetry "Das Land und ich wir werden" was published by Gans Verlag.

Volker Sielaff was born in Großröhrsdorf/Oberlausitz in 1966 and now lives in Dresden. He writes prose, poetry, essays and literary criticism. His publications include: "Postcard for Nefertiti" (2003), "Self-Portrait with Dwarf" (2011), "Glossary of the Prince" (2015), "Barefoot before Penelope" (2020). The author was awarded the Lessing Prize in 2007 and received an honour from the German Schiller Foundation in 2015 and a London Fellowship from the German Literature Fund in 2023. His latest volume of poetry "Ovids Würfelspiel" was published by Poetenladen in Leipzig.

Patrick Wilden was born in Paderborn in 1973 and lives in Dresden. He writes poetry, reviews and short prose and is editor of the Dresden literary magazine "Ostragehege". After attending school in the Kassel region, studying in Tübingen and completing a traineeship at a publishing house in Stuttgart, he worked for many years in an antiquarian bookshop in Dresden, where he now lives. His poetry collection "Alte Karten von Flandern" was published in 2019 as his Raniser debut. His latest volume is entitled "Seltsamer Lärm" and was published by Black Ink Lyrik.

Janin Wölke was born in Berlin in 1982. She studied German and history in Freiburg and Paris. She has been a member of the "Niemerlang" reading series since 2011, together with Carl-Christian Elze, Udo Grashoff and Mario Salazar. From 2013 she studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. Janin Wölke has published her texts in the literary magazines "Ostragehege" and "Poesiealbum neu", among others. Her poetry debut "Was passiert wirklich, wenn wir stolpern?" was published by Hochroth Verlag in 2014. Her latest publication "Unendlicher Move: Gedichte" was published by Elif Verlag in February 2025.

Anna Zepnick, born in Dresden in 1970, grew up with fairy tales and stories and discovered her love of language at an early age. Her first poem was published in the newspaper "Junge Welt" in 1983. She later studied piano and worked as a répétiteur at the Dresden University of Music, as a pianist and theatre musician, yoga teacher and author. In 2012, she decided to devote more time to writing. The combination of words and music, rhythm and sound characterises her style. In 2020, with the help of a grant from the Saxon Cultural Foundation, she produced an audio book with poems and piano improvisations. In 2024, she received poetry mentoring with Volker Sielaff from the Saxon Literature Council programme. Her poetry debut "rabensingen" was published in the same year. Anna Zepnick lives in Dresden.

The composers

After studying music theory and piano at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Christian FP Kram began a postgraduate course in composition at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule Düsseldorf. He then went on to study at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre. He passed his concert exam in 1998 and studied composition in a masterclass from 1998 to 2000, graduating with honours in 2001. He attended masterclasses with leading composers, received various scholarships and composition prizes and was a member of various music advisory boards. As chairman of the Sächsischer Musikbund e.V. and board member of MusikProjektSachsen e. V., he organises concert series and festivals with contemporary music. He is currently working on his doctorate at the Dresden University of Music on Wolfgang Rihm's song compositions. In addition to the opera "Leonce und Lena" (after Büchner), he has written orchestral compositions, numerous songs and chamber music.

Jonas Otte, born in 2000, began his training in piano and composition in his hometown of Chemnitz. From 2012 to 2018 he was a scholarship holder of the Saxon State Association of German Music Schools and since 2021 he has been a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation. He studied composition and piano in Bremen from 2018 to 2023 and is now continuing his composition studies in Hamburg. He has already composed for several renowned ensembles. His works are performed at international festivals and have been heard on Deutschlandfunk radio. He is also regularly involved as a pianist in (première) performances of contemporary works.

After studying orchestral music, Karoline Schulz plays the flute in orchestras and chamber music groups. She studied composition and writes chamber music and orchestral compositions. Another important experience was and is her involvement with free improvisation in the Saxon Improvisation Ensemble and the New Dresden Chamber Music. As a flute teacher and composition teacher in the Halle Composers' Class, she deals with music education issues. She has been working musically with people with disabilities for two years and leads an inclusive improvisation orchestra together with guitarist Max Löb Garcia.

Steffen Reinhold was born in Leipzig in 1967. He initially studied to become a music and German teacher at the University of Leipzig. This was followed by composition studies and postgraduate studies at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre. After many years as a secondary school teacher and as a trainer of trainee teachers, he has been teaching music didactics at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre since 2009. He is chairman of the association "MusikProjektSachsen e. V." Steffen Reinhold mainly composes chamber music. His works have been performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, among other venues, and he has received various prizes. In collaboration with the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra Leipzig, he has supervised national and international composition projects with students, which have also been honoured with prizes.

The musicians

Sarah Kollé is a Dutch-Swiss soprano and was a member of the Swiss Opera Studio, where she took on leading opera roles. She made her debut at the Biel/Solothurn Theatre in the 2015/16 season. Sarah Kollé is very interested in new music and sang the role of Sie in the sitcom opera "Minibar" by Sven Daigger in 2017. Her participation in renowned masterclasses such as the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music and the Stuttgart Days for New Vocal Art have shaped her as an interpreter of contemporary music. In 2018, she completed her Master's degree at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre with distinction and is now continuing her studies in the masterclass with Prof. Caroline Stein.

Albrecht Scharnweber studied at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden. This was followed by a specialisation in bass clarinet at the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg and a master's degree at the Norges musikkhøgskole in Oslo. He then became deputy principal clarinettist of the Mittelsächsische Philharmonie and attended masterclasses with renowned clarinettists as well as participating in the academies of Ensemble Modern, Moritzburg Festival, Klangforum Wien, Darmstadt Summer Courses and the Lucerne Festival with Pierre Boulez. Albrecht Scharnweber is a founding member and director of the contemporary music ensemble El Perro Andaluz, which has taken part in numerous European festivals.

Emily Yabe was born in Tokyo. She completed her violin studies at the Toho Gauken School of Music in Tokyo, followed by masterclass studies at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden. She began working with contemporary composers during her studies in Tokyo. This led her to the International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt in 2002, where she won the scholarship prize. In 2008, she received the special prize for the best interpretation of a 20th century work at the Queen Sophie Charlotte International Competition and in 2010 the DAAD Prize. In 2010/11 she was a scholarship holder of the Hellerau Academy for Experimental Music Theatre. She has attended numerous masterclasses and has given world premières as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and Asia. She has performed as a soloist at the Munich Biennale, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Bavarian State Opera as part of the Munich Opera Festival. She is a member of the contemporary music ensembles El Perro Andaluz and Tempus Konnex.