Barenboim–Said Akademie
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The Barenboim–Said Akademie (, , ) is an academy located in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany, offering bachelor's degrees and Artist Diploma certificates in music; it opened on 8 December 2016. It was co-founded by the conductor and pianist
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
and the literary theorist
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
. The academy was financed to a capacity of 90 young musicians, with an admissions focus on the
Middle East and North Africa The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...
, in the spirit of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Michael Naumann Michael Naumann (born 8 December 1941) is a German politician, publisher and journalist. He was the German culture minister, secretary of culture from 1998 until 2001. He is married to Marie Warburg, daughter of Eric Warburg and granddaughter o ...
, ed. "Barenboim–Said Academy Information Brochure". Berlin: Barenboim-Said Akademie gGmbH, 2013.
The academy features a concert hall for chamber music, the Pierre Boulez Saal.


Background

The creation of the Barenboim–Said Akademie in 2015 was rooted in a pre-existing peace project, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
and
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
co-founded the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
, Germany in 1999, named after the ''
West–östlicher Divan ' (; ''West–Eastern Diwan'') is a diwan, or collection of lyrical poems, by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was inspired by Goethe's readings of the Persian national poet Hafez. Composition ''West–Eastern Diwan'' was writ ...
'' (''West–Eastern Divan''), an anthology of poems by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
, who took his inspiration from the Persian poet
Hafez (), known by his pen name Hafez ( or 'the keeper'; 1325–1390) or Hafiz, “Ḥāfeẓ” designates someoone who has learned the Qurʾān by heart" also known by his nickname Lisan al-Ghaib ('the tongue of the unseen'), was a Persian lyri ...
. The first ensemble workshop took place in 1999, part of Weimar's program as the
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
. The academy, which emerged from the Orchestra, offers a program jointly in the music and in humanities, with the intent "to train excellent musicians who are also curious and well-educated."
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
said of the founding of the Western-Eastern Divan Orchestra,
"Separation between peoples is not a solution for any of the problems that divide peoples. And certainly ignorance of the other provides no help whatever. Cooperation and coexistence of the kind that music lived as we have lived, performed, shared and loved it together, might be."


Faculty

* Radek Baborák * James Helgeson, Academy Dean *
Frans Helmerson Frans Helmerson (born 1945) is a Swedish cellist, pedagogue, and conductor. Biography Helmerson was born in 1945 and by the age of 8 began playing cello. Later on, he studied with Guido Vecchi in Götheborg, Giuseppe Selmi in Rome, and with Willi ...
*
Michael Naumann Michael Naumann (born 8 December 1941) is a German politician, publisher and journalist. He was the German culture minister, secretary of culture from 1998 until 2001. He is married to Marie Warburg, daughter of Eric Warburg and granddaughter o ...
(retired 2021) * Emmanuel Pahud * Joseph Pearson *
András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor. He has received numerous awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Music Bac ...
* Klaus Thunemann *
Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (; born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of ...


Facilities

The Barenboim–Said Akademie is located in the
Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...
district of Berlin, housed in the former depot for stage sets of the
Staatsoper Unter den Linden The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Pr ...
. It was rebuilt after its destruction in World War II between 1951 and 1955 by the architect Richard Paulick. The building is landmark protected; its exterior and the main parts of its interior have been restored. A total of 6,500 m2 of floor space houses 21 rehearsal rooms, an auditorium, offices and ancillary spaces. The main addition to the building is a 682-seat in the eastern wing of the building, based on a design by
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...
and planned by
Yasuhisa Toyota (born 1952) is a Japanese acoustician, who has been chief acoustician for over 50 projects worldwide, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Bard College Performing Arts Center in New York, the Elbphilharmonie in H ...
as chief acoustician. The design of the concert hall reflects the ideas of French composer, director and theoretician
Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...
, who was also consulted on the project. Construction costs are estimated at €36 million, financed by private donors and a €20 million grant from the
German Federal Government The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...
. The Barenboim–Said Academy moved into the space in the fall of 2016. The concert hall was inaugurated on 4 March 2017.


Depictions in popular culture

The Netflix miniseries ''
Unorthodox Unorthodox may refer to: Music * Unorthodox (band), an American doom metal band * ''Unorthodox'' (Edge of Sanity album), 1992 * ''Unorthodox'' (Snow Tha Product album), 2011 * "Unorthodox" (Joey Badass song), 2013 * "Unorthodox" (Wretch 32 so ...
'' based its fictional music academy on the Barenboim–Said Akademie.


Relevant publications and performances

* * * "Remembering Edward W. Said. Ara Guzelimian and Daniel Barenboim in Conversation." ICLS Columbia, 1 February 2013
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
br>
* Mit einem Vorwort von Daniel Barenboim. Edition
Elke Heidenreich Elke Heidenreich (née Riegert; born 15 February 1943) is a German author, TV presenter, literary critic and journalist. She has written audio plays, a magazine column, scripts for television plays and books. Heidenreich is known as the ''Kabaret ...
, C.
Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...
. * * *


References


External links

* {{Authority control Music schools in Germany Universities and colleges in Berlin Music in Berlin Educational institutions established in 2012 2012 establishments in Germany Edward Said Daniel Barenboim