HELMUT OEHRING
2021 κάθαρσις / KATHARSIS I
for violin + multichannel-audioplay + dance choreography
composition + choreography: Helmut Oehring
audioproduction: Torsten Ottersberg/ GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 10'
world premiere November 2021 Societaetstheater Dresden
Florian Mayer + Katja Erfurth
2021 Κασσάνδρα / KASSANDRA (tongue – tearing)
dance theater for a dancer + 7 vocalists + 8.1 channel audio
composition + signpoetic choreography: Helmut Oehring
audio production: Torsten Ottersberg/ GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 45'
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world premiere July 2021 Villa Wigman Dresden
choreography + dance: Katja Erfurth
AuditivVokal Dresden
musical direction: Olafkatzer
2020 χώρος (CHORÓS)
for 24 voices + dancer
text + signpoetic choreography + composition: Helmut Oehring
duration: 45'
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world premiere September 2020 HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts, Dresden
Choreography + dance: Katja Erfurth
2019 EURYDIKE? (ME/SHE – I see . volume 1)
AudioVideoInstallation + performance
for a deaf dancer/voice + a violinist/dancer/voice + a guitarist/dancer/voice
composition + direction + camera + film editing: Helmut Oehring
dramaturgy + co-director + photography: Stefanie Wördemann
audio production + camera + film editing + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg / GOGH smp
duration: 27'
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world premiere March 2019 Nancy Spero Hall / Festspielhaus HELLERAU
May 2019 SPOR Festival for Contemporary Music and Sound Art / Aarhus Art Gallery
May 2019 KONTRAKLANG X KONTAKTE Biennale for Electroacoustic Music of the Academy of Arts Berlin
Kassandra Wedel + Emily Yabe + Mia Carla Oehring
"Helmut Oehring gibt Eurydike auf wundersame Weise eine #stimme zurück. Faszinierend zu beobachten, dass dieses Sujet, mit dem Oehring zwar schemenhaft visuell, aber in deutlich-bestimmter Komposition des Arrangierten umgehen, sofort berührt." mehrlicht Musik . Kultur . Dresden
EURYDIKE? (ICH/SIE – I SEE . volume 1) setzt den Zyklus dokumentarpoetischer Antwortwerke auf Monteverdis L’Orfeo mit Fokus auf zeitgenössische Perspektiven fort: die zwei Musiktheatern auf Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness – Orfeo14 vol. 1 im Kontext weltweiter Fluchtbewegungen mit Le Concert d’Astrée / Emmanuelle Haïm + Ictus Ensemble an der Opéra Lille sowie FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17 mit der Kammerakademie Potsdam und gehörlosen Geflüchteten: Suche nach Sprache in Musik und Gebärde, Performance und Tanz, Sound und Video. Die gehörlose Tänzerin Kassandra Wedel, die Geigerin Emily Yabe und die Performerin+Gitarristin Mia Carla Oehring portraitieren EURYDIKE? in Momentaufnahmen einer AudioVideoInstallation mit Performance, die 2023 ihre Fortsetzung findet in der TanzMusikVideoInstallation EURYDIKE? vol. 2 in Zusammenarbeit mit männlichen Häftlingen der JVA Dresden.
EURYDIKE? FinsterHerz. WeißGesicht. WildGesicht.
Momentaufnahmen im schwärzesten Augenblick:
Orfeos Verrat. Seelenabgrund. Zwischenwelt.
Isolationsraum. DarkRoom.
Nicht mehr Opfer, noch nicht Täterin.
ICH/SIE selbst, nicht Orfeo.
2017 KUNST MUSS (zu weit gehen) oder DER ENGEL SCHWIEG
documentary instrumental theater for16 instrumental vocal soloists
+ three female singers + child soloists +preproduced feeds + live electronics based on the Wuppertal speech The Freedom of Art and other texts by Heinrich Boell as well as autobiographical stories by some of the participants
concept + textbook: Stefanie Wördemann
audio concept + production: Torsten Ottersberg
duration: 80'
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world premiere Dreistaatenhaus / Cologne Opera
Ensemble Musikfabrik + Adriana Bastidas Gamboa + Emily Hindrichs + Dalia Schaechter + Nico van Wersch + René Böll + Mia Carla Oehring + Joscha Oehring + children of the instrumentalists of the Ensemble Musikfabrik
directors: Helmut Oehring + Stefanie Wördemann
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
musical direction: Bas Wiegers
POW, RIGHT IN THE KISSER
"For the writer's 100th birthday, Oehring invented the music theater piece KUNST MUSS (zu weit gehen) oder DER ENGEL SCHWIEG - and this aimed one level lower than Böll's words: right into the heart."
Olaf Weiler, General Gazette Bonn
"Multilingual, strange and poetic, melancholic-romantic, intimate dialogues born out of silence emerge. They are strong and touching, confusing order and loneliness."
Ursula Becker-Dönniger, MagazinKlassik.com
"A worthy reminder of the great writer and admonisher, whose writings and speeches have lost none of their topicality to this day. Long-lasting applause from the visibly impressed audience in the Cologne State House."
Piedro Obiera, Aachen News
2017 DarkHEART or Orfeo17
staged concert based on Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo
and the novel Heart of Darkness byJoseph Conrad
for vocal+instrumental soloists + orchestra + pre-produced tapes
+ live electronics as an artistic encounter of Brandenburg musicians + soloists with flight/exile/asylum background +deaf refugees + refugee musicians
concept + textbook: Stefanie Wördemann
audio concept + production: Torsten Ottersberg
duration: 80'
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David Moss + Marena Whitcher + Aleksander Gabrys + Hassan Taha + Christina Schoenfeld
+ Daniel Göritz + Potsdam Chamber Academy + deaf refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran + escaped musicians from Syria and Afghanistan
artistic direction + staging: Helmut Oehring + Stefanie Wördemann
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
musical direction: Antonello Manacorda
world premiere Octobre 2017 ARENA Potsdam
"OVERCOME SPEECHLESSNESS
FinsterHERZ or Orfeo17 , this large-scale art event, this complex artistic construct appears grounded.
An evening that will stir everyone up and will be remembered."
Karim Saab, Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung
"Oehring's dictum that men are each other's hell took on expressive form in this murky, pandemonic world. "
Babette Kaiserkern, Potsdamer Latest News
2016 AGOTA? The Analphabete (Yesterday/Somewhere)
instrumental vocal melodrama for a singer/speaker/actress
+ instrumental+vocal trio + instrumental ensemble (also vocal/choral)
+ preproduced feeds + live electronics
concept + libretto: Stefanie Wördemann
audio concept + production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH smp
duration: 70'
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world premiere 2016 Statetheater Wiesbaden
Dagmar Manzel + Marena Whitcher + Lukas Rutzen + Nico van Wersch + Ensemble Modern
artistic direction: Helmut Oehring
musical direction: Peter Rundel
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
direction: Ingo Kerkhof
video: Philipp Ludwig Stangl
"Oehring is with AGOTA? succeeded in a literary-music-theatrical transposition. A truly multiple melodrama.
A sober, gripping discourse on identity."
Gerhard R. Koch, Opernwelt
" AGOTA? A complex web that has to be worked in at great expense: an intellectually charged game about attempts at understanding and riddles."
Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau
2015 Songs for „Dymaxion Opera“
songs for sopran, baritone, akkordion and preproduced audioplay
textbook: Steffen Thiemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 50’
wp 2015 Young Opera Berlin / Windchannel Adlershof
direction: Birgit Grimm
2015 The Brothers Lionheart
music theatre for children + teens + adults for soloists + orchestra + live-elektronics
on the novel of Astrid Lindgren
conception + libretto: Stefanie Wördemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 80’
Verlag für Kindertheater
wp 2015 Semper Opera Dresden / Lucerne Festival
Christina Schoenfeld + Daniel Goeritz + Matthias Bauer u.a.
musical direction: Eric Ona
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
stage direction: Walter Sutcliffe
2015 BEETHOVEN WITHOUT MUSIC
composition for one opera scene / electronic music
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 12’
wp 2015 Palais in Great Garden of Dresden, Theater circus
direction: Tom Quaas
2014/15 ANGELUS NOVUS II
collage instrumental-vocal mis-en-scène for vocal+instrumental soloists + Jazz quartet + ensemble
+ live-electronics + video on paintings by Paul Klee and texts by Walter Benjamin and Charles Baudelaire
conception + libretto: Stefanie Wördemann
duration ca. 75’
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wp 2015 University of The Arts / Dampfzentrale Bern
David Moss + Kai Wessel + Matthias Bauer e.a.
artistic direction Helmut Oehring
musical direction: Lennart Dohms
direction: Angela Koerfer-Bürger
stage + costume design: Mirella Weingarten
"The events on stage are not visible on the CD production from Dampfzentrale Bern, but are acoustically present in the background. Even so, the music is plastic, because its design is contoured by memorable alternations of sound-noise mixtures, groove and improvisation and, above all, dynamic contrasts (Songs and recitatives from whispers to screams) the existential distress of internal and external escape events. The merit of this excellent recording is to be able to understand them in a compelling way." Hans-Dieter Grünefeld, Music & Theater Zurich
2012/2013 AshMOON or The Fairy Queen
opera using Henry Purcell's music
with lyrics by William Shakespeare + Adalbert Stifter + Heinrich Heine + Helmut Oehring
concept + libretto: Stefanie Wördemann
audio concept + production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH smp
duration 120' / 180'
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world premiere Berlin version 2013 State Opera in Schillertheater Berlin
Ulrich Matthes + Bejun Mehta + Marlis Petersen + Tanya Baumgartner + Topi Lehtipu
+ Roman Trekel + Christina Schoenfeld + Daniel Goeritz + Choir of the State Opera etc.
musical direction Staatskapelle: Johannes Kalitzke
musical director of the Academy for Early Music: Benjamin Bayl
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
directed by Claus Guth
stage design: Christian Schmidt
world premiere Wuppertal version 2013 Opera Wuppertal
Kassandra Wedel + Aleksandr Gabrys + Daniel Goeritz + Orchestra + Choir of the Wuppertal Opera
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
directed by Immo Karaman
"Oehring 's AsscheMOND does not want to please the present, but does counter the dangers of people by depicting them. The more poetic, the truer. And that works. Whole worlds dream in the piece. Oehring composed a state of limbo, almost unbearable, stepless, as art loves it. Unheard of to listen to the interweaving of modern language with Purcell's melody, to understand the finely spun transitions, to experience how their structures mutually explode and give free rein to the inherent tragedies of the score."
Stefan Amzoll, New Germany
" AscheMOND is one of the most interesting, challenging, enigmatic Berlin music theater productions of recent times. A musical language that could be trusted is deliberately excluded, and that is an experience of intense cruelty: music comes into its own in opera, the authentic instance of expression to deliver."
Peter Uehling, Berliner Morgenpost
"The old music and the new unfold in this pasticchio, side by side and nested on top of each other, the same emotional pull ... The two musical epochs have become a fascinating amalgam for the ear, you can hear the two orchestras in a constructively logical togetherness."
Malte Hemmerich, FAZ
2013/2014 Orfeo14 (vol.1)
music theater on Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
conception + libretto: Stefanie Woerdemann
duration ca. 50'
wp 2014 Opéra Lille
John Marc Ainsley + Laura Claycomb + Roberto Ferreira + Tom Pauwels + Mathias Bauer
+ Christina Schönfeld + Le Concert d'Astree + Ictus Ensemble
musical direction Le Concert d'Astrée: Emmanuelle Haim
musical direction Ictus Ensemble: Francois Deppe
direction + stage/costume design + video: Stefanie Woerdemann + Helmut Oehring
2014 JONA, JONAS and the WALE
Musical adventure for hearing + non-hearing, children + teens + adults,
a narrator/performer + deaf signlanguage soloist/s + three dancers
+ two groups of pupils + small orchestra
on the book Jona and Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mairmaid
conception + libretto: Stefanie Woerdemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 50’
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wp 2015 Volkstheater Rostock
Sewan Latchinian + Christina Schönfeld / Jan Sell + Mia Carla Oehring
+ Rostock and Güstrow pupils + Rostock Philharmonics
musical direction: Manfred Hermann Lehner
artistic direction: Helmut Oehring and Stefanie Woerdemann
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
2014 HOMELAND.traces
education music theater for youth choir + guitar + trumoet + bass clarinet + piano + string ensemble
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 45’
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wp 2014 IMPULS Festival
2012/13 SehnSuchtMEER or The Flying Dutchman
opera under use of musics by Richard Wagner
and texts by Heinrich Heine + Richard Wagner + Mathilde Wesendonck + Hans Christian Andersen
conception + libretto: Stefanie Woerdemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 120’
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wp 2013 German Opera on River Rhine Duesseldorf
David Moss + Simon Neal + Manuela Uhl + Christina Schönfeld + Matthias Bauer e.a.
musical direction: Axel Kober
sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
direction: Claus Guth
stage + costume design: Christian Schmidt
2012/13 LIMEWORKS
instrumental theater for string quintet + vocalists on the novel by Thomas Bernhard
under use of music by Franz Schubert
duration ca. 65’
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wp 2013 Radialsystem Berlin / Biennale Salzburg
ensemble mosaik
direction: Albert Lang
2010 KATTE – A PROCESSv
vocal composition for a cell opera on a libretto by Steffen Thiemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 40’
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wp 2010 Schlossplatztheater Koepenick / Young Opera Berlin
direction: Birgit Grimm
2009/10 The WOUND Heine
small epischc songspiel with interludes on texts by Heinrich Heine
(answering music on Mahagonny Songspiel by Bertolt Brecht + Kurt Weill)
conception + libretto: Stefanie Woerdemann
commissioned by Ensemble Modern
duration ca. 50’
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wp 2010 Weill-Festival Dessau / Opera Frankfurt a.M. / Ruhrtriennale Köln
Ensemble Modern + Salome Kammer + Sylvia Nopper e.a.
direction + stage/costume design: Stefanie Woerdemann + Helmut Oehring
video + graphics: Hagen Klennert
2008 QUIXOTE or The Porcellain Lance
music theater on texts by Miguel de Cervantes + Peter Weiss
textbook + audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration ca. 70’
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wp 2009 European Cantre of The Arts HELLERAU Dresden + musica viva München
Matthias Bauer + Maria Lucchese + Jörg Wilkendorf + Daniel Goeritz
musical direction: Helmut Oehring
direction: Stefanie Woerdemann + Helmut Oehring
stage design + sound design + sound direction: Torsten Ottersberg
video + graphics: Hagen Klennert
2008 GUNTEN
diary music for octet and three performers
on Robert Walser's Jacob von Gunten
conception + libretto: Stefanie Woerdemann
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 70’
wp 2008 Gare du Nord Basel
Ensemble Phoenix + ChrisTine Urspruch e.a.
musical direction: Juerg Henneberger
direction: Marcus Bothe
2007 Instinct
dance theater for five dancers + percussion + piano + video + live elektronics
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca 50’
wp 2007 Sziget Festival/Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts Budapest
Heather O’Donnell + László Hudacsek + Compagnie Pál Frenák
video: Christoph Brech
choreography: Pál Frenák
2004/05 UnvisableLand (or The Tempest)
opera under use of music by Henry Purcell
for three sign language soloists + two narrators + soprano + mezzosoprano + counter tenor + tenor + baritone
+ e-guitar + trumpet + bass clarinet + baroque ensemble + mixed choir + big orchestra
on texts by William Shakespeare and Torsten Ottersberg
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 115’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2006 Opera Basel
Arno Raunig + Christina Schoenfeld + Ensemble PHOENIX e.a.
musical direction: Juerg Henneberger + Guiseppe Parunuzzi
direction: Claus Guth
stage+costume design: Christian Schmidt
2004 Kobayashi sings (under foreign stars)
FeatureDrama in 5ive scenes for two soprani + mezzosoprano + baritone + sign language soloists
+ e-guitar + ensemble + live elektronics
auf Texte von Daniel Kötter + Torsten Ottersberg + Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 45’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2004 Statesopera Hamburg / Sophiensaele Berlin
Soichi Kobayashi + Guiseppe Giurrana + NOVOFLOT Ensemble e.a.
musical direction: Vicente Larranaga
direction: Sven Holm
2004 In the Thicket of Signs (from: you where?)
7even scenes in music in 6ix pictures and 2wo ends
for female sign language soloist + pantomime + e-guitar + ensemble + live elektronics
on texts by Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 25’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2004 KlangZeit Festival / Theater Muenster
Christina Schoenfeld + Matthias Hille + Joerg Wilkendorf + Ensemble WireWorks
direction : Helmut Oehring
graphics + light boxes: Hagen Klennert
2003/04 Wozzek's return
audio written snap shots in three prints (12 contacts)
for three soprani + three sign language soloists + e-guitar + choir + small orchestra + live elektronics
under use by music of Carlo Gesualdo
on texts by Georg Buechner, Theodor Fontane and Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 80’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2004 Theater Aachen
musical direction: Jeremy Hulin
direction: Michael Simon
2001 BlueForestVillage (far-from-away lying days)
music-theatrical locaResearch for three female sign language soloists + baritone + bass
+ mixed coir + e-guitar + orchestra + live elektronics
on texts by Hans Christian Andersen + Ottavio Rinuccini + Friedrich Schiller + Thomas Morus + Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 65’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2002 Theater Aachen
musical direction: Jeremy Hulin
direction: Claus Guth
stage+costume design: Christian Schmidt
2000/01 Effi Briest
music theater for a female sign language soloist + vocalists + countertenor + ensemble + live elektronics
auf Texte von Rainer Werner Fassbinder und Theodor Fontane
co-composer: Iris ter Schiphorst
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: ca. 120’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2001 Opera Bonn / Art Hall Bonn
Ingrid Carven + Salome Kammer + Ensemble musikFabrik NRW
musical direction: Wolfgang Ott
direction: Ulrike Ottinger
2000 6ix (from: CRUISER/The Sacrifice)
for three male dancers + three female sign language soloists + percussion + live elektronics
on texts by Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
graphics: Hagen Klennert
duraion: 25’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 2000 pro musica Bremen
Leonard Cruz + Christina Schoenfeld + Asco Ensemble e.a.
choreography: Leonard Cruz
2000 As if: Suite
dance theater for ensemble + live elektronics
co-composer: Iris ter Schiphorst
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 60’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp Dresden Days for contemporary music
oh ton-ensemble
choreography: Irina Pauels
1999 Bernarda Alba's House
dance theater on the drama by Fédérico Garcia Lorca
for seven female dancers + male soprano + female sing lnaguage soloist + e-guitar + double bass + live elektronics
co-composer: Iris ter Schiphorst
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 90’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 1999 Theater Basel / Hebbeltheater Berlin
choreography: Joachim Schlömer
1998 8ight (from: The Crack)
for a female dancer + seven sign language soloists + e-guitar + live elektronics
on texts by Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
graphics: Hagen Klennert
duration: 45’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 1998 Prater Berlin
Tatjana Orlob + Joerg Wilkendorf e.a.
1996 THE D'AMATO SYSTEM
dance opera on texts by Helmut Oehring
duration: 60’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 1996 Munich Biennale / Carl-Orff-Hall Munich
KNM Berlin
musical direction: Roland Kluttig
direction: Maxim Dessau
1994/95 Documentary Opera (from: lunatic offensive)
Please tell me your name again, I didn't understand it clearly during the introduction
music theater on texts by Helmut Oehring
duration: 56'
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 1995 Witten Days for New Music
KNM Berlin
musical direction: Roland Kluttig
direction: Maxim Dessau
1993/96 Documentation (from: lunatic offensive)
chamber opera for voice + male soprano + three sign language soloists + ensemble + live elektronics
on texts by Helmut Oehring
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
duration: 60’
Boosey&Hawkes
wp 1996 Teatro Lirico Sperimentale Spoleto
ensemble di musica contemporanea
musical direction: Roland Kluttig
direction: Daniele Abbado
Orpheus Chamber Opera Price Italy
1993 Theatre music for In The Urban Jungle by Bertolt Brecht
for instrumental ensemble + audioplays / elektronics
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
wp 1990 Thalia Theater Hamburg
direction: Ruth Berghaus
1990 Theatre music for St Joan of the Slaughterhouses by Bertolt Brecht
for instrumental ensemble + audioplays / elektronics
audioconception + -production: Torsten Ottersberg/GOGH s.m.p.
wp 1990 Thalia Theater Hamburg
direction: Ruth Berghaus
1986 Music for puppet theatre on The Jew of Toledo by Lion Feuchtwanger
for voice + guitar + percussion + audioplays
wp 1986 Kulturpalast Dresden
direction: K. K. Lorenz
1985 Music for puppet theatre on The virgin, the sailor and the student
by Federico Garçia Lorca
for voice + guitar + percussion + audioplays
wp 1985 Highschool for drama Ernst Busch / puppet theatre Berlin
direction: K. K. Loren