MUSIC CHALLENGE

HAMBURG, GERMANY

April–November 2012

Sixteen Fellows from around the world who shared a passion and talent for music worked together with the acclaimed conductor, professor, violinist, and Friend Christoph Poppen to create a day-long music camp in Hamburg with forty teenagers from three Hamburg-based youth groups: the Lukulele choir, Children For Tomorrow, and Juno. The result was Harmony through Diversity, a musical extravaganza featuring a mixture of genres, including folk music, rap, new texts, multilingual performances, and dancing. Leading up to the event, the Fellows had a packed schedule that included music workshops, instruction in media literacy, critical feedback, coaching, and sessions on finances, budget planning, and entrepreneurship. At one point during the program, five fellows took a field trip to Stuttgart, where Poppen was directing Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigenia in Aulis. For some it was their first time inside an opera house. Fellows also had the opportunity to play their instruments for Poppen as part of a masterclass. The Fellows returned to their countries equipped with the tools to start their own music initiatives.