In transition

My last position was with the Ludwigsburg Festival. The Festival was infused with new life and visions by artistic director and Intendant Jochen Sandig who was in charge from 2019 until 2024. 
 
It was his objective to transform one of the oldest and most traditional music festivals in Germany into a „Festival of the Arts, Democracy and Sustainability“ by setting new standards. Besides offering a diverse artistic programme, it became the festival’s endeavour to engage into political debate with its audiences, the public and performing artists and encourage them to meet challenges such as climate change. The sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations for the Agenda 2030 were guidelines of the festival. Patron of the Festival was the late Federal President Dr. Horst Köhler with his wife who had formulated these goals.
 
The Ludwigsburg Festival was inaugurated by the promising Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, shooting star of the classical music scene. Since then women conductors have finally become standard. To honour musicians and artists the festival started planting trees instead of giving flowers (trees instead of flowers – Bäume statt Blumen – was the title of the initiative). Over the five years around one thousand trees were planted in the neighbourhood of Ludwigsburg.
 
The innovative approach with its communication strategy attracted new, prominent partners from civil society and the economy alike and opened new paths for spectacular artistic projects. In 2020 the Ludwigsburg Festival Programme Book was awarded the best book design by Stiftung Buchkunst www.stiftung-buchkunst.de.