Current projects and dates
Our permanent projects in the field of music - THE OSKAR STROCK & EDDIE ROSNER ORCHESTRA, "SPERLinG" ("Swinging PartYsans/Eddie Rosner Legacy in Germany"), also known as "TSP" ("The Swinging PartYsans"), and "RuTKaSt" ("Russian Tango/Kapelle Strock") - are looked after by the association's Oskar Strock & Eddie Rosner working and interest group. New is the project The paths of musical connections are, as we know, tangled and winding. The idea and the impulses behind what is known as "Advocates Of Swing" can be traced back to the 1990s. These were formations that felt at home in those wide worlds of swing which lie outside the common conventions and the most-played jazz standards literature. This project came about so as not to be cut off from these wonderful and often neglected pieces and songs, as so many other musicians are. One dimension shows clearly: the wish to present the lesser-noticed, rather unknown musical sphere of the jazz scene. The nostalgically tinged, swing-oriented show and ballroom music - foxtrots, hot, gentle and high-society jazz - is meant to shine as music of today, an offer to listeners of every age, suited to listening and to dancing. The great model here is the clarinet king Artie Shaw (Abracham Isaak Arshawski), the Jewish-American musician with Russian roots. The music spans an arc from the songs of the Jewish Broadway composers to works that never truly made it into the Great American Songbook or the real and fake books.
Historical performance practice is served only in part and in small measure: neither faithful imitation and reconstruction, nor meticulous stylisation, nor a market-conforming game with sought-after props takes centre stage. It is the interface where "to be continued" happens. Here tradition acts at once as reminiscence and as a carrier of ideas, a spiritual quality and a creative force that finds its rightful place in the dialectic of the present. The formation treats its lovingly selected, often forgotten themes not as museum pieces but as the very stuff of jazz - the living substance of an essentially singular spirit, light-footed and gentle, charged with energy and longing. The exclusively chosen pieces and their interpretations show soft romanticism and a sparkling, adventurous, life-loving imagination; they are marked by vivid imagery and strong expressiveness, elegiac contemplation and a bright tone. These are messages of love and tales of heartbreak, the bitter truth and irony of life, its impish smile - everything, in short, that one connects with the life of the heart and the deepest psychological experiences. A high level of meaning and fresh colour are always part of it.
Contributing with great volunteer dedication are and were Anna Lukschina, Alena Karmanova, Natasha Tarasova and Lisa Hinzke, Semjon Barlas and Vladimir Miller, Steffen Illner and Frank Winkelmann, Peter Zastrow and Gal Liraz, Krassimir Iossifov and Eugen Miller, Hannes Krause and Krzysztof Wasowski, Anders Grop and Thomas Hoppe, Jörn Henrich and Vitas Unikauskas, Ulf Mengersen and Timofej Sattarov, Andrej Sur and Sergej Balitski, Georg Detzen and Amsel, Ed Schneider and Gerd Krambehr, Tilo Neumann and Alexander Solovjov, Tim Gelo and Vit Polak, Lew Spiegel and Steffen Gabel, Xavier Tschernikoff and Alexander Woinow, Johannes Böhmer and Felix Ziebarth, Valentin But and Manfred Gruber, Peter Fogt and Matthias Eichhorn as well as other colleagues.
In the field of literature our activities are connected with the Association of Russian-Speaking Authors of Germany e.V.
In the festival field, an initiative group of our Berlin office has conceived the International Music Festival at Buchenau Palace.
Our project "art-Studio" with Ludmila Dubinskaja offers at the Centre for Integration and Migration (Erfurt) volunteer tutoring along the weekly school curriculum as well as in the following subject areas, special fields and focal points: literature, journalism, bilingual music therapy, applied arts, creative handicrafts, historical costumes, customs and traditions of various peoples, drawing inspired by the books read, adventure education and team building. The target group are schoolchildren from years 1 to 8, adults by arrangement, regardless of prior knowledge and experience, migration background or provenance. Beyond that, we are there for you as integration guides and help with leisure activities.
Contact: ingempojekt@gmail.com, aniris_07@mail.ru
In the media field we are always ready to offer school leavers and young people (native Russian speakers or with a Russian-speaking migration background) our support in expanding their skills in areas such as:
- Media design
- Public relations/press work
- Online PR/social media
- Sound and video design
Beyond that, volunteers, students and interns with a (Russian-speaking) migration background are welcome at any time.
IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT OUR PROJECTS FINANCIALLY, OR ARE READY TO ENDOW A FESTIVAL, A PUBLICATION, A RESEARCH PROJECT OR A MEMORIAL PLAQUE WITH YOUR EARMARKED DONATION, WRITE TO US!