As opening premiere of the Ruhrtriennale - International Festival of the Arts 2013 Heiner Goebbels will direct the opera DELUSION OF THE FURY of American composer Harry Partch with Ensemble musikFabrik. Stage and Light Klaus Gruenberg, Costumes Florence von Gerkan. Premiere August 23rd, Jahrhunderthalle, Bochum.
In the meantime more performances by Heiner Goebbels have been announced for the season 2012/2013. Eislermaterial can be seen in the Philharmony of Cologne in October, I went to the house but did not enter is invited to perform at the White Light Festival in New York (November), his brandnew production When the Mountain changed its clothing will travel to Graz, Maribor and Paris this fall and to Luxembourg next may. Last not least the OPER FRANKFURT has just announced a longer run of the opera Landschaft mit entfernten Verwandten in May 2013 with the Ensemble Modern. More news regarding performances of Stifters Dinge, Eraritjaritjaka, Max Black and Surrogate Cities are to be published within the next few weeks.
In the historical waterreservoirs of Museum Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt Heiner Goebbels opened his sound- and videoinstallation Genko-An 64287, which can be seen and heard daily except mondays until september 9th
during a pressconference on april 16th Heiner Goebbels launched the program of the ruhrtriennale 2012, international festival of the arts.
The International Ibsen Award, which is one of the world's most prestigous theatre awards, honours an individual, institution or organization that has brought new artistic dimensions to the world of drama or theatre. On march 20th - the birthday of Henrik Ibsen - during a press conference in the Norwegian embassy in Berlin the committee of the international Ibsen Award revealed Heiner Goebbels as the winner for 2012. "Eraritjaritjaka" and "Stifters Dinge" two of his most renowned works, will be presented in Oslo on September 9th at the International Ibsen Festival, where the Award Ceremony takes place. On September 10th Heiner Goebbels is invited to participate at the International Ibsen Conference at Ibsen's birthplace in Skien. See here some samples of his performances Official statement of the jury: “Heiner Goebbels - creator of works for theatre, theatre director, composer, musician, teacher and festival programmer - is one of the great creative personalities of today. He is responsible for an astounding body of work in disparate disciplines and has exerted a profound influence on theatre practitioners and musicians. His theatrical work extends from a large scale work for the opera house to an installation for a theatre without performers. Each piece is essentially different in character and form and each is genuinely ground breaking. He is a true innovator and his works defy conventional definition. He has explored and expanded the relationship between theatre and music and in so doing has developed the elements of theatre in a way that has opened up new insights and possibilities. In this way he fulfills the fundamental purpose of theatre to widen our experience of ourselves and of the world. In addition he has been a pioneer in the use of technology in theatre. His work has been seen in over 50 different countries transforming the experience of audiences and influencing a wide range of performing and creative artists. The power and significance of his work will in the future increase and will influence theatre and theatre making for the decades and generations to come.”
The Birmingham City University will award Heiner Goebbels a Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University "in recognition of his unique and distinguished achievements as a composer and his outstanding lifelong contribution to the development of contemporary music" on March 23rd during the Frontier Festival, which presents several of his compositions.
Heiner Goebbels performed in "A Room for London" - a boat on the rooftop of the South Bank Center on sunday February 26th and "Surrogate Cities" at the beginning of "Music Nation" in the Royal Festival Hall on March 3rd: "Jonathan Stockhammer exerted an iron control over the proceedings, so you could hear plenty of detail, even when the music was at its most violent... The orchestra was the real star, however, playing with terrific enthusiasm. The percussionists in particular, whirling vertiginously on a gallery above the tiers of musicians below, deserved a medal." (**** The Guardian)
The explosive performance Max Black featuring the actor André Wilms finished a series of sold out performances with great response by the press (Le Figaro / le Monde) and the audience (including Isabelle Hupoert, Michel Piccoli, Peter Brook and many others) in Theatre Bouffes du Nord in Paris on Sunday February 19th.
Various festivals, concerthalls and theatres will present the work of Heiner Goebbels in 2012: in the UK the Southbank Center in London will present the british premiere of "Surrogate Cities" in the Royal Festival Hall and also in various spaces of the building - as a collaborative project together with the Laban Center (Trinity School). Also Birmingham will focus on his compositions (in march and june) in the context of the Frontiers Festival; and Heiner Goebbels will be awarded with a honarary doctorate by the Birmingham City University. In Munich the Münchner Kammerorchester conducted by Alexander Liebreich prepares the German Premiere of "Songs of Wars I have seen" in a special program called "carte blanche" and in collaboration with the Münchner Kammerspiele. Theatre Bouffes du Nord in Paris has scheduled a series with six performances of "Max Black" - the famous brain solo for André Wilms with its explosive chain reaction of fire, sounds, experiments and thoughts by Paul Valery, Lichtenberg and Wittgenstein. And "I went to the house but did not enter" is heading for it's Skandinavian Premiere during the Bergman Festival in Stockholm. In the Context of John Cage's 100th Birthday Heiner Goebbels is invited to a sound- and video-installation for Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, where he will realize in the historical Water-Reservoir underneath the Museum a work called "Genko-An 64287“, inspired by the japanese temple Genko-An in Kyoto, which he visited twenty years ago, back in 1992. In August the first edition of the International Arts Festival "Ruhrtriennale" (August 17th until Septembre 30th) opens under the artistic directon of Heiner Goebbels - the program will be published in April. This festival will open with a new production of "John Cage: Europeras 1&2" - staged by Heiner Goebbels and his team (Klaus Grüneberg - stage and light, Florence von Gerkan - costumes, Willi Bopp - sounddesign, Hubert Machnik - programming) and ten wonderful opera-singers from all over Europe. Also Festival La Batie in Geneva will present works of Heiner Goebbels at the end of August. So there are a lot of opportunities (but not much time for himself) to celebrate his 60th birthday...