About "Kopfstand 09" with Hubert von Goisern
On October 30, the Theater Phönix hosted the third installment of „Kopfstand 09„ (Headstand), the series of get-togethers being held in conjunction with Linz 2009. The star of this show was Hubert von Goisern, whose Linz Europa Tour 2007-2009 will be getting the word out about the Capital of Culture.
Attendees got the details about a really innovative project featuring Upper Austrian native Hubert von Goisern as musical ambassador for Linz 2009 on a spring 2007 concert tour on some of Europe’s great rivers. This tour is the first in a series of collaborative projects with Linz 2009 – European Capital of Culture.Hubert von Goisern has already journeyed twice to the shores of the Black Sea, and it was only about 14 days ago that he returned from his last trip to Eastern Europe. He had spent five weeks traveling by boat and car to check out all the planned stops on the Linz Europa Tour and to scout possibilities for successful collaboration—that is, partners in joint performance ventures who speak the same musical language he does. At the same time, though, this talent expedition was also a diplomatic mission, the aim of which was to soak up some local color, on-site inspiration and a feeling for folks’ reactions to the tour.
Hubert von Goisern will kick off his tour with a concert in Linz on June 10, 2007. The first leg will take the show through Eastern Europe; in 2008, the tour swings west and eventually winds things up in Rotterdam. Both segments will include about 25 dates with varying lineups featuring local acts in each of the respective venues.
The MS Wallsee will be Hubert von Goisern’s tour ship. In tow will be a barge convertible into a stage as well as a houseboat for the crew. There’ll be a permanent staff of 20 on board: nautical personnel, a cook, and a film crew documenting the entire cruise. A mobile sound studio and editing facilities will enable fans to follow the whole journey and all the concerts online.
What’s Hubert von Goisern’s take on the significance of these musical encounters? He’s already discovered superb technical musicianship on the part of his Eastern European colleagues, and this level of virtuosity was certainly not something that the Upper Austrian star had simply taken for granted. Thus, for Hubert von Goisern, the most appealing aspect of this journey is the opportunity to gain insights into people’s mentalities via musical exchange.
The first meet & greet involving all the participants in the Linz Europa Tour 2007-2009—the “river people” as Hubert von Goisern calls them—will take place in Linz during the European Capital of Culture year.
The next “Kopfstand” will be held December 4, 2006 at 7 PM in Galerie MAERZ (Eisenbahngasse 20, 4020 Linz) where, in a chat with Ulrich Fuchs, former Austrian Ambassador to Lithuania Michael Schwarzinger will reminisce about some of his memorable experiences with the people of that Baltic republic and discuss the outstanding features of their capital city, Vilnius.
