From 1:00 pm
Welcome 1st day: Registration and accreditation, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

2:00 pm
Opening and Welcome, KörberForum

2:30 pm
Revue: Three current themes from past TAoME editions, KörberForum
1. Young Audiences – Constanze Wimmer
2. Multi-Diverse Urban Societies – Katherine Zeserson
3. What Keeps Societies Together – Lydia Grün

Music education and outreach is not an invention of the 21st century. However, new concert hall buildings, festivals, formats, ensemble initiatives, digitalization, and social change have provided major impulses over the past three decades. We ask three long-standing companions and experts in music education and outreach to share their personal reflections on a field that has undergone profound change since the early 2000s.

3:30 pm
Keynote: Culture and Decivilization – Taking Stock on Unsteady Ground, KörberForum
Harald Welzer, sociologist and social psychologist

What happens to culture when the veneer of civilization begins to crack and the values we once took for granted start to falter? How can we respond to a world whose pace and scale of change are increasingly hard to grasp? And what role can cultural institutions play in strengthening a democratic society—if they realistically reassess their own potential? Sociologist Harald Welzer takes a critical look at our present and at some of our most deceptive certainties.

4:15 pm
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

4:45 pm
Breakout Sessions: Reflecting on the Three Impulses, KörberForum / Fleeträume / Start Hub

20 years of music education and outreach and 10 editions of TAoME: which questions from 2008 are still relevant today? What new topics are currently shaping the field? How has music education and outreach evolved? In three parallel breakout sessions, we invite participants to share questions and challenges from their daily practice and bring them together afterward.

5:30 pm
Presentation of Breakout Session Results, KörberForum

6:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many submissions to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. These projects reflect the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. Leuphana Concert Lab – How can participation be practiced in university teaching?
Lea Jakob, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
2. Zukunftsmusik – Andrea Hoever, Head of Music Education and Outreach, Bodensee Philharmonie
3. Looping and Letting Loop – Güneş Oba Hennecke, music educator
4. “…And Now It’s Your Turn!” – Johannes Mnich, TauberPhilharmonie Weikersheim
5. “Giving Voice to the Future” – Eleni Hagen with Johanna Zill, TONALi

7:00 pm – approx. 10:30 pm
Get-together, Elbphilharmonie

We celebrate the tenth edition with conversations, snacks, and drinks—and a special guest: Hamburg’s Senator for Culture, Dr. Carsten Brosda. Join us in exploring the new spaces in the Kaispeicher of the Elbphilharmonie.

9:00 am
Welcome 2^nd Day

9:30 am
Input: Awareness – Integrating Preventive and Supportive Measures in Cultural Institutions, KörberForum
Teresa Hähn, act aware e.V.

Teresa Hähn works as Managing Director and lecturer for awareness and anti-discrimination at the non-profit organization act aware e.V. Since 2020, act aware has been collaborating with cultural organizers, educational institutions, NGOs, and public bodies to create safer spaces for all. Teresa Hähn advises organizations on implementing awareness concepts, delivers workshops and training programs, and also works on site as a team lead. She is a cultural studies scholar, a trainer in social justice and diversity, and a former production manager in theater, art, and festival contexts. Moving between theory and practice, she is equally familiar with mainstream and subcultural settings. In her educational work, critical theory meets hands-on experience from small- and large-scale events.

10:30 am
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many responses to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. These projects demonstrate the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. Symphonischen Hoagascht: Brass Band Music Meets the BRSO – Dr. Juliane Ludwig, Bayerischer Rundfunk
2. Leisure as a Luxury Good and Participation – Imke Poeschel, Zukunftslabor: an initiative of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
3. Travelling Program: “The Song Is Ours!” – Ottilia Dorner, House of Music Hungary

11:00 am
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

11:30 am
Keynote: Transforming Musical Culture – Reflections on Participation Projects at the Beethovenfest, KörberForum
Steven Walter, Artistic Director, Beethovenfest Bonn, and Martin Zierold, cultural scholar and organizational consultant

No institution today exists without an education department. What was not yet a given at the beginning of TAoME has now become standard practice. But is that enough? Does education hold the role—and the staff and resources—required by its broad scope of responsibilities? How strong is its expertise in community building, intercultural mediation, or hosting? As a Fellow at the Thomas Mann House in California, Steven Walter—founder of the Podium Festival Esslingen and now Artistic Director of the Beethovenfest—discusses comparisons between American and European concert cultures in conversation with Martin Zierold (among others, host of the podcast “Wie geht’s?”).

12:30 pm
Insights into Practice: Echoes in Limbo, KörberForum
Hannah Baumann, Beethovenfest Bonn

12:45 pm
Keynote: Participation – Do We Really Want It, and Are We Actually Able to Do It?
Martina Taubenberger, curator

1:30 pm
Lunch Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

2:30 pm
Keynote: Resilience as a Key Competence – “Out of Control: Staying Resilient in Unmanageable Times”, KörberForum
Kerstin Jaspers, educational scientist and resilience coach

Loss of control as the new normal: In an increasingly fragile, frightening, and incomprehensible world (BANI), cultural institutions—like society at large—are faced with the question of how to maintain agency and rethink responsibility.
The 7+1 pillars of resilience as the foundation of psychological resilience: how responsibility, optimism, and sustainable networks enable future-oriented action, and how diversity of perspectives can be actively lived. Why inner attitude and mindset are central to resilient communication and organizational development.

3:15 pm

Option 1: Resilience Workshops, Two parallel sessions: Group A – Fleeträume/ Group B – Start Hub

Practice-oriented exercises and techniques for building resilient attitudes. Tools for self-responsibility and solution-oriented work in volatile contexts.
For all those who wish to shape shared responsibility and view disruption as an opportunity.

Option 2: Input: Speaking & Listening – What We Can Learn from Democracy Projects, KörberForum
Claudine Nierth, Federal Board Spokesperson, Mehr Demokratie e.V.

Speaking & Listening is a dialogue format developed by Mehr Demokratie e.V. that brings people with differing perspectives into conversation. Unlike conventional discussion formats, it does not ask what someone thinks about a topic, but how they feel about it. This subtle yet crucial shift encourages people to speak less about others and more about themselves and their needs—making listening easier and fostering a shared experience. The format is used nationwide, particularly in municipalities and organizations, to strengthen democratic culture.

4:00 pm

Option 1: Resilience Workshops, Two parallel sessions: Group C – Fleeträume / Group D – Start Hub

Practice-oriented exercises and techniques for building resilient attitudes. Tools for self-responsibility and solution-oriented work in volatile contexts.
For all those who wish to shape shared responsibility and view disruption as an opportunity.

Option 2: Thoughts on Hospitality, KörberForum
Dan Thy Nguyen and Nina Reiprich, fluxus² e.V. and fluctoplasma Festival

Dan Thy Nguyen and Nina Reiprich have jointly led the association fluxus² e.V. and the interdisciplinary festival fluctoplasma – 96h Art, Discourse, Diversity in Hamburg for several years. Their work operates at the intersection of art, memory culture, political education, and social responsibility. Through curatorial formats, performative interventions, and discursive spaces, they address issues of post-migration, decolonization, anti-racism, and democratic public spheres. Both understand cultural work not as representation but as infrastructure: a space for negotiation, friction, and collective imagination.

4:45 pm
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

5:15 pm
Insights into Practice: Podcast – You All Right?! Sharing Stories, Sharing Sound, KörberForum
Floortje Smehuijzen, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ & BIMHUIS

5:30 pm
Insights into Practice: Music Therapy in San Francisco Public Schools, KörberForum
Anastasia Heroldová Tramontozzi, San Francisco Symphony

5:45 pm
Input: Third Places – Spaces for New Encounters, KörberForum
Louisa-Dominique Riedel, Otto Beisheim Foundation, and Anja Adam, Foyer Public, Theater Basel

Third places have long been talk of the town. Cultural institutions are opening their spaces to society—open, participatory, and free from consumption pressure. These spaces enable in-person encounters, counter loneliness, and strengthen democratic coexistence. As a strategy for opening up “for all,” more and more institutions are embracing the concept of the third place. However, those who take it seriously embark on a far-reaching change process—also in attitudes and values—and require time, resources, and skilled personnel. Anja Adam and Louisa-Dominique Riedel share insights and challenges from practical projects in Basel and Munich.

6:20 pm
Dinner, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

7:30 pm
Group Walk to the Elbphilharmonie, meeting point: Körber-Stiftung Foyer

8:00 pm
Concert: Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy, Grand Hall Elbphilharmonie

Taking the stage at the Elbphilharmonie and learning from jazz greats such as Anat Cohen or Yaron Herman—the Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy makes it possible. The academy offers talented jazz musicians aged 18–30 the opportunity to work for one week with renowned musicians and instructors in group and individual sessions, developing a joint program that is ultimately presented in the Grand Hall.
Jazz greats including Theo Croker, Donny McCaslin, and Julia Hülsmann serve as mentors throughout the week. The final concert in the Grand Hall marks the crowning conclusion of an intense, creative, and deeply emotional shared experience.

10:00 pm
Reception, Elbphilharmonie Foyer

9:00 am
Welcome 3rd day

9:30 am
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many responses to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. They reflect the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. SommerMusikWoche – Mira Possert & Sophie Löschenbrand, Wiener Konzerthaus
2. “Sound of Silence” – Nazfar Hadji, Institute for Research in Music Education
3. Perfect Match – The Neighbourhood Opera “You Are Okay” – Nicola Pacha Vock, Head of Community and Education

10:00 am
Keynote: Communities of Distrust – On the Appeal of Populism and Conspiracy Ideologies (book title), KörberForum
Aladin El-Mafaalani, sociologist

Aladin El-Mafaalani is the author and editor of numerous academic publications, including twelve books as well as many articles in journals, edited volumes, and handbooks. He is one of the founders and editors of the Journal for Migration Research.
His research has received multiple awards, including the Augsburg Science Prize for Intercultural Studies, the Dissertation Award of the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen, and the German Study Prize of the Körber Foundation. His public engagement has also been widely recognized, including the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Public Impact of Sociology from the German Sociological Association and the Federal Cross of Merit, awarded by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

11:00 am
Insights into Practice: Social Aesthetics – Reframing Post-Migrant, Participatory Art, KörberForum
Kian Jazdi, Liedstadt gUG

11:30 am
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

12:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Bringing Music Education from Theory to Practice, KörberForum
Avri Levitan, Musethica e.V.

12:15 pm
Insights into Practice: The Resonance-Oriented Touring Orchestra, KörberForum
Martina Elmer, Budapest Festival Orchestra

12:30 pm
Insights into Practice: Zwischenraumklänge – Responsibility and Participation in the Education Formats of the asambura ensemble, KörberForum
Joss Reinicke, asambura ensemble

12:45 pm
Insights into Practice: Artistic Quality and Social Engagement at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, KörberForum
Axel Petri-Preis, Institute for Research and Practice in Music Education

1:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Sound Worlds – Our Language Is Music, KörberForum
Caroline Prassel, Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory, Frankfurt am Main

1:15 pm
Thoughts on your way, KörberForum
Sonja Anders, Artistic Director, Thalia Theater Hamburg

To close the conference, we invite our guests to share one or more “thoughts to take with you”—a question, a reflection, or an encouragement that lingers, offers support in everyday practice, and conveys meaning. This might be a glimpse into the future, or a personal observation or experience that has remained essential to their work.

2:00 pm
Lunch, Körber-Stiftung Foyer