»Some contrasts cannot be watered down«

»It Ain’t Necessarily So«: a well-known aria from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess, and the title of the concert performed by the quintet led by Maxine Troglauer, a Fellow of the 2025 cohort. We look back on an unusual evening at the Theater im Ballsaal.

What pigeonholes exist in our minds, whether for music or people? Troglauer has designed a concert that pulls all of these preconceptions out and mixes them up. Accompanied by the tapestry-like music of Erik Satie, the musicians recite genre names ranging from Krautrock to string quartet. They improvise on Hildegard von Bingen’s music, perform jazz classics alongside opera. Contrast is the overarching theme, because for Maxine Troglauer, music is all the more powerful in its diversity. The programme for the evening is accordingly unusual:

»Handel’s aria ›Ombra mai fu‹ is interrupted by Frank Zappa. These are contrasts that cannot be watered down; they are simply stark.« – Maxine Troglauer

The integration of language into music also had a powerful effect that evening, whether in the form of announcements, greetings or invitations for the audience to move around the room freely. Or the chatbot’s speculations about what had motivated the audience to come today, which encouraged them to reflect on their own expectations of a concert. Or the life story of women’s rights activist Hedwig Dohm, who set an example for many women throughout history. Speaking over the music, the five musicians broke away from the traditional classical stage setting and crossed the boundary to the audience.

The bass trombonist loves the in-between spaces. Even during her training, she couldn’t decide whether to specialise in classical or jazz music. She played with both the German National Youth Orchestra and the German National Jazz Orchestra. She brought her instrument out of its niche through new commissions, her own compositions and creative adaptations of works from all eras and styles.

»I play the bass trombone – for me, there is no original repertoire. A few pieces already exist, but to be honest, I don’t want to play them. So I adapt – and that’s where the challenge and the great freedom lie.« – Maxine Troglauer

As part of the 2025 Fellowship, she created her first full-length performance, »It Ain’t Necessarily So«, in which she was able to bring all these ideas to life. We are proud to have launched the show at Beethovenfest, and it will certainly go on tour.