Programme of the Opening Ceremony
31 December 08 (and New Year’s Eve)The by-invitation-only programme
4:30 p.m.: Reception at the Old Townhall
300 or so invited guests are bid welcome by the hosts, Mayor Franz Dobusch and Governor Josef Pühringer.
6:00 p.m.: Linz Zuhause
Approximately 70 private households will be treating their guests to a New Year’s Eve dinner, which ranges from traditional to highly individualistic or even exotic. These households will be selected according to criteria that include demographic considerations and will take into account different parts of the city, different religions, single households, (students’) flat-sharing communities, families with an immigration background, VIPs, representatives of art and culture institutions, etc.
from 7:30 p.m.: Reception at the Brucknerhaus Linz
By-invitation-only welcoming reception before the opening gala accompanied by excerpts from CIRCUS projects.
9:00 p.m.: Solemn opening of Linz09
An artistic surprise programme for guests of honour from the areas of culture, politics and the economy to officially inaugurate Capital of Culture Year.
from 10:00 p.m.:
After the solemn opening of Linz09 the guests of honour are free to take part in the general festivities. Shortly after midnight they will be able to witness the performance of the “Rocket Symphony” from Nibelungen Bridge. The rest of the night will be given over to a party that has the whole city as its venue.
The programme for Linzers and their visitors
from 3:00 p.m. (until 1 January 09, 3:00 p.m.): Standard Time
In this project time itself becomes an object of construction. 70 workmen, working around the clock, construct a wooden, 4 metre tall digital display. A project by Mark Formanek, realised by Datenstrudel.
Where // Danube Embankment Linz
from 9:00 p.m.: Countdown
The public countdown begins at 9:00 p.m. in the Hauptplatz, in the inner city and on the banks of the Danube. There will be stages in the Hauptplatz, in the Old Market and on the Nibelungen Bridge featuring gigs by the likes of Louie Austen and Binder & Krieglstein. As regards scheduling, there is sufficient time for instance to attend an evening performance, such as Carl Zeller’s operetta “Der Vogelhändler” at the Großes Haus des Landestheaters, or a gala dinner and then to join audiences at the pop concerts and to toast the new year with Linz09.
11:30 p.m.: Countdown Nibelungen Bridge
The centre of gravity of the opening now shifts to the Danube Embankment, where a summary of the solemn opening broadcast from Brucknerhaus by ORF OÖ is shown on a video wall while the countdown continues.
00:10 a.m.: Rocket Symphony
In this world premiere of a work specially commissioned by Linz 09, a choir consisting of 500 or so singers from Linz and environs backed by the 18 soloists of the British choir “The Shout”, enters into a dialogue with the pyrotechnical drums and trumpets of fireworks.
The venue for this performance is the Nibelungen Bridge. The choir will be standing in the event space of the new Ars Electronica Center, surrounded on all sides by the explosive orchestra.
The “Rocket Symphony” is a composition by Orlando Gough, an Englishman wellknown for his and his 16-member ensemble’s spectacular appearances. He oversaw for instance the closing event of this year’s Culture Capital, Stavanger, Norway. For the “Rocket Symphony” the composer collaborates with the director Tom Ryser; the two created “Singing River”, with which the Royal Festival Hall, London, was reopened in 2007.
And then: Then the party goes on…
Music in the public space and parties in many bars and pubs make it possible to continue this celebration of the newly inaugurated Capital of Culture Year for the rest of the night. Or you might be tempted by the premiere of GOOD NIGHT STUFF – the Linz09 night line with a difference! GOOD NIGHT STUFF puts on electronic music and digital art and provides hitherto unused venues for international artists to play gigs together with the wide variety of local band outfits.
1 January 09
From late morning, New Year’s Day will be offering both traditional Linz events – such as “Aperschnalzen”, a whip cracking display, in front of the Landhaus at 11 a.m. – and Linz09 programme modules that can be combined ad lib by the public (in some cases advance booking may be required).
Dennis Russell Davies and Philip Glass will be joining forces for an early climax in this still very young new year in the form of Glass’s latest symphony and the start of the Haydn Year – Brucknerhaus, Bruckner Orchestra, 4:00 p.m.
Another climax both in terms of symbolism and substance will be the opening of the exhibition “Best of Austria” at the Lentos Kunstmuseum. It is a selection of artworks from museums, collections and galleries from all over Austria that has been made regardless of style and period with the sole objective of bringing the nation’s immensely varied art treasure into focus.
2 January 09
The second day in the New Year is given over to Ars Electronica and to Linz09 programme acitivities designed to bring a sense of what it means to be Capital of Culture home to Linz’s different neighbourhoods.
The climax of the day is the opening of the new Ars Electronica Center. Its floorspace has been enlarged by 4,000 square metres and will be made accessible to the general public for the first time from 2:00 p.m. (until 4 January 09).
From 2:30 p.m. Linz09 will be taken possession of by the entire city! The project CAPITAL OF CULTURE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE MONTH shifts a different neighbourhood centre stage for a month at a time. The first to take to the stage in January is “Alte Innenstadt”. Messrs Juhann and Jod and their Kunstpalast_Onstage – Mobile Platform for Everyone will be there to assist.
Another highpoint of the Opening09 will be the premiere of “The Book of Disquiet”. Fernando Pessoa’s masterpiece of the same name provided the basis for a novel type of music theatre by the renowned composer, film and theatre director Michel van der Aa, the Austrian screen and theatre legend, Klaus Maria Brandauer and the Bruckner Orchestra with Dennis Russel Davies, which is co-produced by ZaterdagMatinee (Concertgebouw Amsterdam). This premiere will make Hafenhalle09, the Linz09 venue in the 3rd harbour basin, accessible to the general public for the first time.
3 and 4 January 09
The weekend following the days of Opening09 is supposed to establish the pace at which Linz09 will be operating throughout the year.
There will be project premieres and openings according to the Linz09 programme, such as SONNTAG MORGEN / SUNDAY MORNING, STADTKINO and CAPITAL OF CULTURE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE MONTH.
Several of Linz’s cultural institutions will be laying on special programmes on the days of Opening09, ranging from guided tours to additional performances and/or screenings; details to be published.
Traditional turn-of-the-year events, such as the Oberbank New Year’s Eve Race Linz or the New Year’s Concert in the Palais Kaufmännischer Verein (in collaboration with Siemens AG Österreich), are also scheduled for the days of Opening09. For the details of all other programme items, for detailed information and for opening times of cultural institutions see www.linz09.at/opening
