SEID UMSCHLUNGEN MILLIONEN

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius once said that the best conversations about music could be held with bank directors – "artists only talk about money«. That was not such a nice thing to say about his fellow musicians, but it shows appreciation for a group of people without whom many concerts would not take place at all: the patrons and sponsors that represent the third important source of finance for our concert programme, alongside public funds and the proceeds from ticket sales. All these supporters share a special affinity for music, and all of them deal with the Elbphilharmonie Development Office.

If Sibelius's bank director wants to talk about music, or even better, wants to invest in it, he should start with a phone call to Nele Buß and Konstanze Krone: these two ladies devote their working day to »bringing together two very different parties: art and business« as Konstanze Krone puts it. They accomplish this in a variety of ways. While charitable donations are managed by the Elbphilharmonie Foundation, »sponsoring always involves a trade-off, something in return«, Nele Buß explains. »The sponsors pay a contractually agreed sum of money, and in return they use the image transfer and the communication services that we offer – and of course enjoy many other exclusive benefits. For instance, they can book a larger block of tickets through the concierge service or rent exclusive rooms like the Kühne Sky Lounge for receptions.« And they enjoy media presence with their logos (as in this magazine), something that Nele Buß and Konstanze Krone pay meticulous attention to. This has brought them the affectionate internal nickname »the logo police«.

The significant role played by private sponsors soon becomes clear on a tour of the Elbphilharmonie. There are little plaques with donors' names by the staircase leading to the Grand Hall; when you arrive in the foyer, you'll see a wall where the names of the principal sponsors and major donors like Hamburg businessmen Michael Otto, Klaus-Michael Kühne and Peter Möhrle are listed; in the concert hall itself, you may find yourself sitting in an armchair paid for by a »chair sponsor«; and in the interval, you drink a glass of bubbly in the »Helmut and Hannelore Greve Foyer«, named after the two early Elbphilharmonie sponsors.

A glance at the figures shows that this all-in package appeals to many sponsors: Konstanze Krone explains that »the six million euros that the City of Hamburg provides as the Elbphilharmonie budget is at least matched every year by the amount of private funds donated«. Money that directly supports projects put on by our in-house concert organiser, HamburgMusik. »We always aim at the maximum benefit for both sides. Our sponsors' generosity enables the Elbphilharmonie to realise many more projects and thus really live up to its claim to be »a place for everyone«. It's never only about money for money's sake.« Nele Buß can only agree with her: »In the final event it's always about the music.«

While Buß and Krone are the two latest additions to the department, Nataly Bombeck can be described without exaggeration as a true Elbphilharmonie veteran: the trained journalist and PR expert joined the newly-formed team on the day of the topping-out ceremony, where she started with responsibility for public relations work and press liaison. She has been working solely for the Development Office since 2016. »It's a great bonus that I know so many people in Hamburg thanks to the work I did before«, says the Hamburg native. »I know who holds which position, whom I need to call for what purpose, and who might be interested in supporting the Elbphilharmonie.«

Keeping in touch with people is also Nataly Bombeck's job at the Hamburg International Music Festival and at the Elbphilharmonie Circle, both of which she is charge of. Some 100 medium-sized companies from a wide variety of sectors in the Hamburg area are members of the Elbphilharmonie Circle. Nataly Bombeck helped select them, she knows them all personally, and it's easy to imagine that she didn't have any trouble attracting new members with her open and straightforward manner.

And that's something she has managed to do even in more difficult times such as the lengthy construction phase, and now during the Corona lockdown as well. For example, she quickly organised and sent to all our sponsors a CD featuring the highlights of the season as a gesture of compensation for the many concerts that have had to be cancelled. »But most important of all, of course, is personal contact.« In that spirit, Nataly Bombeck is using the time to do what she enjoys most: staying in touch with people. Some sponsors she calls, others she visits at home with a mask on, and to others still she sends pictures of the empty Elbphilharmonie – »so that they know we're still alive!«

There is less glamour involved in Dorothee Kalbhenn's work: she focuses more on musical content. She came to the Elbphilharmonie in 2011, and was already working on the sponsorship structure long before the official opening with General & Artistic Director Christoph Lieben-Seutter. In the meantime, her main responsibility is making contact with beneficiary foundations – or, as she says herself, »looking for allies.«

Dorothee Kalbhenn either looks actively for foundations who might be a good fit with projects already planned but not yet financed. Or she cooperates with them to develop new formats that enable mutual goals to be achieved. »The focus is on benefitting the public and on idealism – non-profit projects.« It's particularly important to her that culture is thus made accessible to everyone: when an outside foundation helps finance a concert, the audience doesn't have to bear the full cost.

The latest example is a new composition prize that the Elbphilharmonie has developed in cooperation with the Hamburg Claussen-Simon Foundation. It is the outcome of years of relationship work with many personal talks, in the course of which it turned out that the two institutions share a common interest in contemporary music and young artists. Then, when Alan Gilbert became new principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and initiated a new contemporary music festival, »everything finally came together«, as Dorothee Kalbhenn says with excitement in her voice. Together with the prize money, the first award-winner, Swedish composer Lisa Streich, has also received a commission for a new work, which will be performed in the Grand Hall at the closing concert of the festival »Elbphilharmonie Visions« in February. The search for allies has borne fruit once more.

Donations, sponsorship and endowments often involve five- or even six-figure amounts. But you can also make a much smaller contribution. Membership of the »Freundeskreis Elbphilharmonie + Laeiszhalle e.V.« (Society of Friends of the Elbphilharmonie & Laeiszhalle) only costs 80 euros a year. The society was already founded more than 20 years ago with the aim of putting on concerts in the Laeiszhalle organised by the City of Hamburg. The society has included the Elbphilharmonie in its name since 2009, and Sarah Scarr joined it as director a year later. »Back in those days. it wasn't a society in the real sense of the word«, she says. »In the meantime, society activities and meetings play a much larger role.« Numerous events are now held in the course of the year that the »friends«, as Sarah Scarr always calls them, can attend – from backstage tours of the concert halls through day trips to a several-day journey to other European cultural centres.

Text: Simon Chlosta, last updated: 08.12.2020