An educational project
SCHOOLS. The operas in the Licht cycle all deal with major universal themes: life and death, peace and war, belief, human communication, art and humor. All these subjects can be tackled in a variety of ways and with all ages, through a dialogue between performers and students, as well as through a purely musical time for the sensory experience of the concert.
Unlike most operas, Karlheinz Stockhausen has entrusted the main roles to instrumentalists, dancers and singers. These stories are told in music and movement, without the systematic intervention of the spoken word. Depending on age, this language elicits a wide range of reactions, from amusement to astonishment and even skepticism on the part of the older members of the audience.
We have performed and presented scenes from several operas (Donnerstag, Samstag) to kindergartens, primary schools, junior high schools, high schools, children with or without a musical background, children from affluent or underprivileged neighborhoods, newcomer middle-school students who didn't yet speak French: everyone was touched, interested and challenged, and when we met in the classroom, the questions were always numerous and rich.
The soloists play this music by heart, in motion, with no score or music stands between them and their audience, creating a direct and immediate bond. The concert can take place anywhere, in a courtyard, classroom or concert hall.
In a pedagogical approach spanning several months or a school year, students can appropriate the elements of the language, make them their own and improvise their own music. In a more traditional school concert setting, a preliminary presentation and a meeting with the musicians after the concert also provides a didactic approach as well as a musical and sensory awakening.
For older students, the concert can also become a pretext for reflection on art, history and philosophy, based on the major themes addressed by the cycle of seven operas.
STUDENTS. We systematically integrate young students aged 15 to 23, who are destined to become professional musicians in the orchestras and choruses of our operas. For Donnerstag aus Licht, 60 singers from the Jeune Chœur de Paris were present, along with 40 instrumentalists from the CRR de Paris; for Sams- tag aus Licht, 60 wind instrumentalists took part in scene III of the opera. For Dienstag, we're planning a further appearance by the Jeune Chœur and students from the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris.
AMATEURS. Although Stockhausen's music is reputedly very difficult to perform, some parts are accessible to amateur musicians. For example, we joined the Orchestre Impromptu (an amateur orchestra of which Maxime Pascal has been artistic director since 2008) in Donnerstag aus Licht to play the Gruss (Salut). For our revival at London's Southbank Centre, the New London Chamber Choir, a top-quality amateur choir, sang in the opera's third scene.