Gabriele Minz | The Culture Negotiator

Gabriele Minz is always on the go – a classic “networker”, she's constantly conversing, negotiating and organizing. Minz is responsible for the annual Young Europe Classic, a festival for the best youth orchestras of the world, a task which requires the accomodation of countless different cultures under one roof, all of which want to feel respected and accepted.

Gabriele Minz has just returned from Delhi. Starting this year, Minz and her colleagues are working on the development of German-Indian relations by planning festive German-Indian events like a Mendelssohn concert with German musicians in India. Our understanding of “classical music” is completely foreign to Indian musical tradition, with Dhrupad Music being one of the oldest Indian music styles. Its origins lie in northern India and demands concentration and endurance from both the performers and their listeners. A Dhrupad concert can go on for several hours, it's a very spiritual ceremony.

The most fascinating thing about Minz's work is that she's able to dive into new cultures, pure bliss for the certified economist and psychologist. But despite or maybe because of this, she appreciates Berlin for its creative atmosphere. Minz has been living on Torstraße for years and believes that it's a clear borderline to Mitte and its surrounding hype. Just recently, she's set up a small but avantgarde little festival, the Klavierfieber festival directed by Dieter Rexroth. Six composers gathered inspiration from six paintings and six pianists will interpret visual into acoustic art at the Kulturforum. Composer Bernhart Weidner, who began his musical career as a rock guitarist, picked a Caspar David Friedrich painting. The interpreter, Mizuka Kano, has been playing the piano since she was four years old. The festival started on June 20 and will run until June 26.

(emh)