How to bring concerts to the people

The Beethovenfest aims to be accessible to everyone – since last year, we have been pursuing this goal in collaboration with Caritas. This partnership breaks down barriers to attending concerts: through free Sponsored Tickets for clients of Caritas facilities, pop-up concerts held right where people live, and a panel discussion on one of the organisation’s key areas of work – support for the homeless and those without housing. Constanze Baumgart from the Bonn Caritas Association and Julia Klein from the festival team talk about this initiative.

»Beethovenfest Bonn and the Caritas Association share a common goal: to enable people to participate. Through a variety of formats – and with a great deal of dedication and professionalism – the festival has, for years now, succeeded in making classical music accessible to people who would otherwise have little opportunity to experience it, whether because they have mental health issues or because their social and financial circumstances make it impossible for them.« This is how Constanze Baumgart summarises the aim of the partnership with the Beethovenfest. She is Head of Press and Public Relations at the Caritas Association and works alongside Julia Klein from the Beethovenfest’s music education programme to provide clients with access to live music.

»I think it’s very important for an institution such as a classical music festival to step outside its own walls and become more open to other people«, Julia Klein emphasises. Her role is to coordinate the collaboration on the festival side and, for example, to find suitable artists who are willing to take on the challenge of a pop-up concert in a social care setting. Constanze Baumgart sees these efforts in the context of social responsibility: »As a society, we all have an obligation towards people who, through no fault of their own, are unable – or only to a limited extent – to advocate for their own needs. One of the most fundamental of these needs is the desire to participate. The collaboration between Beethovenfest and Caritas achieves precisely that: cultural participation for people.«

»There are groups of people who cannot come to the concert themselves, whether for structural, financial or health reasons, or because of other barriers. We want to bring the artists to these people, rather than bringing the people to the concert.« That is the guiding principle behind the pop-up concerts, says Julia Klein. This year, in addition to their public concerts, various Beethovenfest artists are also performing at Caritas social care centres: at the Prälat-Schleich-Haus (a men’s homeless shelter), at Haus Mondial (a community centre with open meetings for people with refugee and migration backgrounds), at Lebensraum (a day centre for people with mental health conditions) and at two care homes for the elderly. The line-ups are as varied as the Nasmé Ensemble – a sextet comprising strings and clarinet – pianist Zhouhui Shen and the Rothko String Quartet. Julia Klein explains the process of selecting artists: »We consider which artists are suitable for this, for example because they have already gained experience with similar formats. Most respond very positively to our enquiries, and some are particularly keen to support the initiative – for example, this year’s Nasmé Ensemble with Michael Barenboim.«

There are many reasons why it is virtually impossible for many people to go to concerts. Constanze Baumgart explains: »For people with mental health conditions – such as those at the Social Psychiatric Centre run by Caritas in Bonn – attending a concert without support and an escort is often too great a challenge. For other clients, the financial situation is the deciding factor, often linked to a sense of shame at not owning suitable clothing. Individual socialisation, which prevents access to this kind of culture, can also be a reason.«

The reactions of people at the pop-up concerts testify to the great enrichment that such moments bring to their lives, says Constanze Baumgart. »The clients respond very positively, as do our colleagues from the care homes. For everyone involved, these events are a real highlight. The in-house concerts are almost always packed to capacity. And the artists who have already performed at one of our care homes can confirm this: The service users show their enthusiasm not only through their attention and applause, but also through numerous interested questions after the concert.« Julia Klein adds: »Residents in care homes, for example, are revitalised by the music despite dementia or other limitations. Some people talk, for example, about past visits to concerts by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, which they are no longer able to attend. For them, it is particularly wonderful to experience live music again.«

The idea originally came from violist Nils Mönkemeyer, who developed it in collaboration with Caritas for his Klassik für Alle festival held in Bonn a few years ago. He explains: »Sponsored Tickets are concert tickets for people from Caritas’ client base. Any individual or company can buy Patentickets, and the system then distributes them to those in need who have provided proof of their circumstances. My basic idea was: the principle of democracy is that we reach out to one another and bring all sides together.«

Why aren’t the donated tickets passed directly from the buyer to the recipient? Julia Klein explains that the system benefits from Caritas’s experience: »The Caritas Association is closer to people’s circumstances. They are better placed to assess which groups of people should be offered which concerts from the pool of Sponsored Tickets. For buyers of Sponsored Tickets, which are then donated via Caritas, it can be a good way to do something kind for someone without having to know them personally. This creates a cycle of giving amongst the people of Bonn.« For the clients, a Sponsored Ticket can help overcome significant barriers to attending a concert: »The fact that they are free of charge naturally plays an important role. Beyond that, it is above all the opportunity to go as part of a group and/or with a companion«, says Constanze Baumgart.

At this year’s festival, you can buy tickets for four concerts either directly from the online shop on the relevant concert page, or via the ticket hotline and advance booking offices:

For the first time, Beethovenfest, in collaboration with Caritas, is also organising a panel discussion on one of the organisation’s key areas of work: support for the homeless and those without housing. The panel will bring together representatives from local government, the Caritas Association and the organisation stadtstreifen e. V., people experiencing homelessness, and the composer Gabriel Kahane. Constanze Baumgart hopes that this joint event will raise awareness of this important issue: »It is important to us – to my colleague Carolina Schrage, who heads up the support for the homeless and is taking part in the panel discussion, and to Caritas Bonn – to convey that homelessness has long since reached the very heart of society and encompasses far more than just visible homelessness. There is an urgent need for more affordable housing and a stronger focus on prevention. At the same time, homelessness remains heavily stigmatised – it is particularly worrying that more and more young people are affected.«

Before the discussion, various Bonn-based organisations involved in housing and homelessness support will have stands in the Beethovenhalle to present their work and engage with the audience – alongside Caritas, these include the Diakonie and the Johanniter. In the evening, following the discussion, US musician Gabriel Kahane and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn will host a concert immediately afterwards: Kahane’s oratorio emergency shelter intake form, featuring soloists, a choir and an orchestra, takes a thought-provoking look at the subject through the lens of an emergency shelter questionnaire.