n[o]ice! aims to achieve close integration of the fields of study of singing/opera and composition by developing a piece of music theater together.

The students develop an opera, search for content, form, vocal spectrum, sound and provide inspiration for contemporary vocal music. Artists at the cutting edge support the project with creative input and ask about relevance in workshops, master classes and excursions that reflect innovative developments and open up international perspectives in addition to the seminars anchored in the curriculum.

As the first building block of the “n[o]ice!” project, the work on “Pierrot Lunaire – Mondsüchtig” was a good introduction to the vocal soundscape of the 20th century. Arnold Schönberg's classic of contemporary music theater was juxtaposed with seven compositions by students of the Incontri Institute and performed in June 2023.

For the second year of study, the author and librettist Prof. Tina Hartmann from the University of Bayreuth was won over to develop the common subject with the students: work as a meaning, work as exploitation, work as the center of life, work as a means to live.

Research on the content, character constellations and dramaturgical drafts led to texts that were set to music by four composers from the Incontri Institute (mentors: Aaron Cassidy and Gordon Williamson) as the basis for the scenes.

The musical development was supported by the Ensemble Quillo from the Uckermark, experts with performance practice in new music. Six instruments were explored in five workshops lasting several days, classical and innovative playing techniques were tried out and the interplay was heard.

Under the direction of Yoonjee Kim, the instrumental structure was created, always in correspondence with the vocal parts. The collaboration with the singers, which began with Claudia Barainsky, was continued in three master classes per semester. Based on recent vocal works, the singing students were prepared for the advanced demands of New Music.

The “tryout n[o]ice!” presented the results of this process in a staged concert in the Richard Jakobi Hall.

In the third year of study, the four resulting drafts are dramaturgically linked and finalized. The collaborative composition is premiered as a self-contained work and is made reproducible. Content and musical themes are further developed, characters are more clearly drawn, and choral and solo parts are added. Four individual parts become a whole.

A new storyline emerged from the first four drafts: the “Memory of Humanity”, a large-scale project created by artificial intelligence, collects and archives knowledge, skills and experiences from the world of work and life. Changed climatic conditions make human survival impossible, but flora and fauna have the ability to adapt. In this situation, some human specimens fight for autonomy, survival and immortality.

In the winter semester 24/25, the existing group will be expanded to include new singers, who will initially rehearse the sheet music that has been created so far. The composition(s) will be complete by the end of the year and will be reviewed with the Quillo ensemble in January. In addition, the singers will then begin rehearsing the newly created parts of the work.

In the summer semester of 2025, an instrumental ensemble will be formed from students at the university under the direction of Yoonjee Kim. Musical and scenic ensemble rehearsals will begin in April, and stage and costume design will be conceived and implemented by students at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover.

Premiere: The final product will be premiered as a self-contained work in June 2025 under the title “Al-Cinas Archiv” and is to be made reproducible; four performances are planned at the HMTMH, and guest performances are being considered.

Funded by the funding program for cutting-edge research and teaching in Lower Saxony, the Volkswagen Foundation and the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture.

Al-Cinas Archiv (UA) 19. | 20. | 21. |23. June 2025, 7:30 p.m. at Richard Jakoby Saal, Neues Haus 1 • Singers of the vocal department | Instrumental ensemble of the HMTMH | Students of the HS Hannover • Prof. Mascha Pörzgen Project management: scenic instruction and direction • Yoonjee Kim: musical direction • Prof. Aaron Cassidy and Prof. Gordon Williamson, Institut Incontri: supervision of composition • Prof. Tina Hartmann, Universität Bayreuth: text production, libretto • Betty Mavropoulou, Hana Lim, James Anderson, Tom Bañados: composition • Claudia Barainsky: supervision of the singers • Rainer O. Brinkmann: coordination and conceptual assistance.