Education

 

Should you plan to go on an adventurous expedition, you will need a compass in order not to get lost. That rule applies not only to a trip into the wilderness, but also to a trip to the Elbphilharmonie Concerts. Our special »Elbphilharmonie Compass« will show you what is on offer for every age group: take you pick from concerts for children with international artists, a percussion workshop for trainees, personal encounters with the stars of the classical music scene, an encounter with the crazy Doc Sound and his Sound Agents, beautiful string music for babies, the new »ElbCommunity« (a newsletter for and by teenagers), and much more!

The »Compass« is put together by the education team of the Elbphilharmonie, and their work is at the core of the programme, because dealing with music is not only fun, it is also a learning experience. That's why the »Compass« wants to bring children, teenagers and young adults into contact with artists and with music.

Elfi
Baby Concerts in the various city quarters. (For parents with children ages 0–1, and for pregnant women.)
With the baby-concert series »Elfi«, the Elbphilharmonie presents music for parents and their babies in the Hamburg areas of Barmbek, Sasel Wilhelmsburg, and St. Georg. »Elfi« offers classical music in a relaxed atmosphere. In the course of a 45 minute concert – with the chamber orchestra Ensemble Resonanz – an atmosphere is created in which babies as well as their young parents can feel comfortable. There will be mostly classical music on the menu, but also minimalist music with its pronounced drive. We ensure that there will be baby changing facilities and a play area for children.

Bees and Villains
Four concerts for children (from age 4) on Sunday mornings, in the Small Hall (Kleiner Saal) of the Laeiszhalle, with enchanting music theatre from around the whole world. The four groups who perform are from Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna and Bregenz. They display the full variety of modern music programming for children.

Sound Museum
Test the classical instruments.
The Sound Museum offers children and teenagers ages 4–14 the chance to learn more about the instruments of the orchestra and actually to play them themselves. The various groups, constituted by age levels, can get to know a range of instruments in a playful way, through stories and extensive explanations.

Doc Sound in Action
Children's concerts in various city quarters
In a series of three concerts given in different quarters of Hamburg and a final concert at the Laeiszhalle, the Elbphilharmonie Concert management aims to get children ages 8–12 interested in classical music by means of the story of Doc Sound, a strange scientist in search of »unheard-of sounds.« Prior to each concert, Doc Sound cruises through Hamburg, together with participating school classes (his so called »sound agents«) to »collect« sounds that the children will hear again in the concerts. The musical pieces containing these sounds will be performed by the Ensemble Resonanz, the percussion group ElbtonalPercussion, the brass players from the Hamburg Philharmonics, and the Hamburg Symphonic Orchestra.

The Music of Tomorrow
Concert visits and encounters with artists for school groups (grade 9–12).
Through the programme »ZukunftsMusik« (Music of tomorrow) the Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg – together with the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg Foundation and the Körber-Foundation – bring together world famous musicians with students from Hamburg. These encounters, in the form of discussion groups and workshops prior to the concert, aim to give teenagers a greater understanding of music and musicians. The tickets for the concerts are partly sponsored by the above mentioned foundation.

Mahler-Camp
A creative-workshop in the autumn holidays, for ages 15 and above.
During this workshop, teenagers and young adults will investigate the music and philosophy of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony (»Resurrection«). During the autumn school holidays the Elbphilharmonie – together with the K3 – Centre for Choreography | Tanzplan Hamburg, and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra – will organize a one-week camp in conjunction with a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony. It will allow the participants to deal with Mahler and his music, in direct and practical collaboration with professional artists. By working creatively and through improvisation, the camp members can find a path to Mahler's music and the topics he deals with. The results of the camp experience will be presented as a »pre-concert« talk in the Kleine Saal (Small Hall) of the Laeiszhalle.

BeatObsession
A percussion workshop for trainees and young workers, aged 16 and over.
Via percussion workshops the Elbphilharmonie will give young workers the chance to create their own concert at the Laieszhalle, together with professional percussionists. The workshops will take place in select companies in Hamburg where the young workers can take part in a two-hour percussion course daily. For further information please contact Mr. Christoph Becher.

ElbNews
The writing studio of the Elbphilharmonie (ages 16–20).
In co-operation with SZENE Hamburg
ElbNews is aimed at young adults and is put together by people of the same age. We want to give teenagers an insight into the daily work of an internationally active concert venue.
Editorial meetings are held weekly in school, under the guidance of a professional journalist. There, the next edition is planned and put together, the last edition is discussed, and there are writing workshops as well as courses on layout/graphic design. The aim is to have journalists, artistic directors, marketing experts and newspaper people talk to the school writing team on a monthly basis. The ElbNews appear from the autumn of 2010 onwards every three months, as a print edition in SZENE Hamburg.

ElbCommunity
The platform for fans of classical music (ages 16–27).
The ElbCommunity is a central platform where teenagers and young adults interested in classical music can meet and exchange information, visit Elbphilharmonie Concerts (at reduced rates) together, chat to concert organisers and artists and participate in exclusive events. These include visiting rehearsals, »meet the artists«, workshops, special pre-concert talks, guided tours etc. The ElbCommunity starts in the autumn of 2010, and you can find up-to-date information via Facebook.

Family
Where to go with the entire family?
The Elbphilharmonie Concerts offer numerous possibilities to experience music with the whole family. For the little ones, there are the Baby Concerts Elfi: classical music for pregnant women and adults with babies ages 0–1. Warm string sounds, memorable melodies, pleasant tempi and levels of loudness – that's the music that already works its special magic on babies.
In the Sound Museum parents can go on a discovery expedition together with their children and learn more about the instruments from the world of classical music. During these events for families you get to know all the instruments of the orchestra – in a close encounter.
The children's concert series Doc Sound in Action is aimed at children ages 8–12 and their families. The concerts are built around the central character of Doc Sound, a strange collector of sounds and noises, always on the look out for new, unheard-of sounds. The concerts take place in the Hamburg quarters Jenfeld, Mümmelmannsberg, Wilhelmsburg and Altona.

School
Information for teachers.
The Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg offer schools various possibilities for co-operation. Our main goal is to support the creativity of students, whether it be in the form of the initiative »ZukunftsMusik« (i.e. Music of Tomorrow) which allows children and teenagers to participate in workshops and discussions with famous artists, or through our children's concert series entitled Doc Sound in Action. In the context of the latter series, students tour Hamburg with Doc Sound in search of unheard of noises, and they will participate in a final concert at the Laeiszhalle.

The Fascination of Music Education
Workshops for anyyone professionally interested in musical education. In co-operation with the Landesmusikakademie Hamburg.
On behalf of the Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie, the Music Academy Hamburg (Landesmusikakademie) will organize a two-day workshop series entitled »Faszination Musikvermittlung«, i.e. »The Fascination of Music Education«. With the help of specialized instructors, orchestral musicians and music teachers, and also interested individuals – such as dramaturges and people from other cultural areas – you will learn how to convey music to young people and receive advanced training in this field.

The Art of Music Education 2010
From February 24–26 2010 the Elbphilharmonie Concerts has organized, for the second time, the international symposium »The Art of Music Education«, together with the Körber-Foundation in Hamburg.
Press Release (pdf, in german)
Programme (pdf, in german)
Press Release on the results of the symposium (pdf, in german)

ElbCasts

Listen to the artists of the Elbphilharmonie Concerts talk about their music. You can find the »ElbCasts« in the media section of this website (under Elbphilharmonie Concerts).