2022 was an amazing chapter in the history of German-Danish music cooperation. We, the music organisations behind the Danish NEUSTART initiative, would like to thank all the artists, partners, and people who made it such an eventful year.
The year showed a significantly increased mutual interest and activity between Denmark and Germany. Many Danish artists made new colleagues in Germany, and many Germans visited Denmark as a site of musical creativity, experimentation, and openness.
It is difficult to choose highlights from such a vibrating myriad of 2022-events in almost all genres and sizes. But here are a few honorable mentions: (photo: Michael Baumgärtner)
The year started and ended with DJ training for women and gender minorities by Future Female Sounds. The Copenhagen based organisation made partnerships with Club Gretschen, Refuge Worldwide, and planted seeds all over Berlin to continue their work.
During Aarhus’ SPOT festival in the spring, a threefold co-presence allowed German colleagues from different genres to connect across fields and engage in new networks. Tempi hosted ‘Roots & Hybrid’ showcases with German colleagues in the world of global roots music; JazzDanmark similarly did the Sun Ship showcase, and ROSA hosted an open office throughout the festival.
Among the many open calls of 2022 were two different opportunities for artists created by MXD to play a massive all-day showcase in Berlin. One was at Badehaus in the summer and the next was at Most Wanted in the fall. Several acts, co-selected with ROSA and Tempi, made their break in Germany.
Art Music Denmark worked a lot with artist counseling and knowledge sharing. They also partnered with Initiative Neue Musik on a field trip to Berlin’s Month of Contemporary Music, where a group of Danish Composers spent the week with new German colleagues all over the city.
Several residency programs and workshop formats were established. One of them, BAUSONGS, created by ROSA in cooperation with locally based producers and songwriters in Berlin, hosted a group of young talents for a full week of intense songwriting and a fancy dinner at the Danish ambassador’s house.
At the Danish embassy in Berlin, a solid program of concerts throughout the year took over the beautiful architecture by Tiergarten. Among the great artists that played there was Julie Pavon. Look out for this artist in 2023 – she is going to be the next big deal.
2023 has already begun, and on behalf of everyone involved with the initiative we are looking very much forward to keeping up the work with Germany.