Staatskapelle violinist Alexander Ernst and former solo timpanist Bernhard Schmidt, together with son and grandson Konstantin Schmidt, spotlight their second passion: electronic music. They have created a particular style that celebrates the great role models of the 1970s while expanding on the electronic music of today. Played with classic analogue synthesisers and modular systems, supported by step sequencers and drums, pre-programmed sequences are combined with improvised elements to create a delightful interaction between musician and machine. And the audience has a unique opportunity to hear the theremin, one of the pioneering electronic instruments that helped create the genre. Don’t miss one of these rare concerts where the musicians bring their analogue synthesiser treasures from the studio to the stage and engage in some live music-making.

With their Dresden band »Cocktail Napkin«, Casey Ouzounis and Caroline Beach offer an oscillating mix of electropop, glam-folk and Dada. Above all, they play with and subvert the universal language of pop using different styles and identities, body images, genders and rhythms, pop and »culture«. »Cocktail Napkin is a head-spinning drink – a mix of iconography, semiotics and light jazz along with olives and more than a few stolen identities. Electropop, glam-folk and Dada all go into the mixer. Fancy a tall, cold drink? Cocktail Napkin has already finished it off. Sorry. Cash only. And don’t call me baby, baby.« Have fun!

Caroline Beach is a German based, Texas born choreographer who thinks of herself as a cartoon artist working in the medium of dance. She has made work for a multitude of spaces including theaters, galleries, off-spaces, the Internet, and most recently, a media storage closet.

Casey Ouzounis is a gender fuck from Dresden. Born in Canada they identify as a singer, dancer, and over all transcendental being. With a generational family background in circus and percussion Casey developed their love of performance and choreography from an early age.

»Cocktail Napkin« online: cocktailnapkin.bandcamp.com

There are actually people who don’t know the 35th of May or that the year has 13 months. Well, they’ve probably never read Erich Kästner. This shocking educational gap will be closed at this recital. Kästner’s poetry has frequently been set to music, most famously in the songs of Edmund Nick, most of which were written in close collaboration with the Dresden author. The thread running through this evening will be »Die 13 Monate« (The 13 Months), complemented by additional songs all featuring Kästner’s funnily perceptive and precisely observed lyrics, in which he pokes fun at our human idiosyncrasies. And if you still don’t believe in his extended calendar, we strongly recommend taking a look at Kästner’s books.

Variety is the order of the day when you spend an evening at the Semper Bar in Semper Zwei: that jack-of-all-trades, Axel Ranisch, who is staging „Intermezzo“ at the Semperoper, invites the audience to join him in exploring his own opera highlights. 

Patrick Hahn, conductor of the Strauss opera „Intermezzo“, will present himself over two evenings as a veritable chansonnier, paying homage to the unique humour of Georg Kreisler with sharp-witted and satirical songs.

Patrick Hahn, conductor of the Strauss opera Intermezzo, will present himself over two evenings as a veritable chansonnier, paying homage to the unique humour of Georg Kreisler with sharp-witted and satirical songs

Axel Ranisch, Ragna Schirmer and Matthias Daneck are presenting a very special evening at which they explore the question of whether the GDR had its own unique sound. How political are musical compositions? What picture is painted by the poetry of the GDR? What were the ideals of its artists? What kind of future do they portray? Pianist Ragna Schirmer, percussionist Matthias Daneck and actor, director and author Axel Ranisch illuminate four decades of GDR history in words and music, revealing contradictions between artists of the avant-garde and those aligned with the communist system. They view the music and poetry of this age between two poles, namely criticism of and loyalty to the regime. In addition to well-known figures such as Paul Dessau, Friedrich Goldmann, Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Brasch, Sarah Kirsch and Eva Strittmatter, the three artists also take a look at less familiar names. The selection of works juxtaposes the private and the political, the personal and the partisan. A journey through the years 1949 to 1990, which, against the backdrop of our modern global tensions, also has a truly contemporary relevance.

The Semper Bar doesn’t close its doors until the end of June when Aaron Pegram sends us off into the summer holidays with an entertaining crossover programme.