First KWZ Concert and Talk: European Music from the Seventeenth Century

On June 13, 2012 the first Concert and Talk in the atrium to the Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum took place: La Capriola presented, played and explained music from seventeenth-century Europe. The playlist included Italian, English, French, German and Austrian composers, with settings for recorder and basso continuo as well as for solo instruments, harpsichord and viola da gamba. In spite of the weather and the European Championship many found their way to the concert. While for some the choice of the location was at first confusing - the entrance hall does not, at first glance, make a very good concert hall - , the acoustics proved the Centre's entrance hall to be a very good choice. Both musicians and audience also commented favourably on the fact that, unlike in other concerts, the choice of location did not explicitly exclude bypassers, but invited everyone - staff members, guests and library users alike - to stay and share the musical experience.

The concert also attracted the attention of cultural anthropologists: Perhaps we have witnessed the beginnings of a project on how the Centre - and more specifically the entrance hall - is appropriated by those who live and work in the Centre.