A cool feeling

Every spring, young people from Bonn take the helm at Beethovenfest – not only on stage, but also behind the scenes. As part of the student management team, they help design their own concert as part of the official festival programme. Here, the young managers themselves report on what happens in the team – from initial ideas to the finished event.

When our team of six students, aged between 14 and 17, met for the first time in January, we already knew which concert we would be responsible for from then on. The percussion show, »Five Elements«, with Alexej Gerassimez. The venue, programme and artists would be organised by Beethovenfest. However, that doesn’t mean we’re just standing on the sidelines. On the contrary, we are thinking about how we can make the concert exciting and accessible for young people, how we can advertise it, and how we can create a special experience around it. We are also, of course, involved in the technical and logistical realisation of the project – it’s about getting involved rather than just watching.

We work in four areas: Artistic Direction, Concert Management, Marketing and Social Media. Each area has its own tasks, but ultimately, they all come together.

David is leading our team as Artistic Director. He organises meetings, provides project direction and ensures that everyone works together. From the outset, we discuss the themes we want to explore in the concert, how we want to interpret them, and the message we want to convey.

David maintains an overview, identifies the essence of our ideas and helps us make decisions. Without him, many things would not run so smoothly, and our meetings would probably be much more chaotic.

As concert manager, Luis is responsible for ensuring that the concert evening runs smoothly. Who will welcome the audience? How does admission work? When and where do the four percussionists and the pianist have to rehearse? Who is responsible for which tasks on the day of the concert, and what arrangements do we need to make with the Beethovenfest team, the musicians, and our colleagues in the technical department and at the venue?

Although the concert programme is already fixed, we help to create the framework. On the day of the event, Luis ensures that everything woks out, from seating arrangements to the final on-stage announcement. You need organisational talent, a cool head, and nerves of steel.

For our concert to be a success, it must of course also be advertised. Blen and Artemis are coming up with ideas on how to make young people in particular aware of the concert.

They design posters and flyers, devise creative campaigns and write intriguing texts. They work with eye-catching colours, images and slogans so that our concert is memorable and stands out from the crowd.

Lastly, we, Lin and Felix – the authors of this article – are responsible for the social media aspect of the project, particularly on Instagram. We show what’s happening in our work, from the first team meetings to exciting behind-the-scenes insights and the concert itself.

We write all the texts ourselves, including this one, and we also post articles, make stories and shoot short videos. Our goal is to show the festival through our eyes. Authentically and creatively.

We don’t just participate in a project – we are part of a festival that we help organise. We enjoy working in a team, taking responsibility, and bringing our own ideas to life. This also enables us to develop our skills.

We play an active role in organising every aspect of the concert, working alongside the Beethovenfest team. As a result, we experience the festival not as spectators, but as active participants. And that’s a pretty cool feeling!

It’s about being heard. It’s about realising that our perspective matters and that, even though we are young, we can be part of something big. It’s about doing more than just consuming culture — it’s about helping to shape it, too. Perhaps the most important thing we learn here is that art happens not only in the concert hall, but also in conversations, ideas and encounters. It’s also about realising that we, as young people, can play a real role in this.