Linz Europa Tour West – Hubert von Goisern
Press Conference
12 June 2008, 10 a.m.
Düsseldorf
More than 12,000 kilometers will be covered by Hubert von Goisern’s flotilla on the Linz Europa Tour 2007–2009. His two excursions as goodwill ambassador for Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture are in the process of spanning the continent. On the tour’s two legs, the musicians, staff and crew spend several months cruising Europe’s great river road and playing great music at venues along the way.
The concert ship, a barge supplied by Austria's Brandner Shipping, has been equipped with a hydraulic stage designed especially for the Linz Europa Tour. High-tech sound & lighting plus the eye-catching stage design and visual concept guarantee an unforgettable show right at water’s edge. The space on board not taken up by the stage set is optimally utilized for sleeping accommodations and rehearsal space. On and below deck, the artists, project staff and ship’s crew live at close quarters. The total length of the flotilla consisting of tugboat Joseph Brandner and the concert barge is 140 meters.
The centerpiece of this innovative concert tour is the idea of musical encounters—manifested most clearly in the concert program that Hubert von Goisern is presenting at more than 50 riverside venues. This journey will let audiences hear, experience and feel the diversity of European culture, the qualities that make it so special, and its rich regional variations.
The Linz Europa Tour 2007–2009 is thus a many-voiced harbinger of Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture, one that will also be accompanied by an extensive program of ancillary events and promotional activities spotlighting Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture.
The grand finale comes at a big harbor festival in Europe’s 2009 Capital of Culture. “Back Home in Linz” will reunite all the artists that Hubert von Goisern encountered during his riverside sojourns. Linz09 Artistic Director Martin Heller had this to say about the tour’s culmination: “Here, many voices will join together to encapsulate what’s been going on. And they’ll do so right in the middle of the Capital of Culture year whose mission is to enable us to live out and experience what Europe means. The Linz Europa Tour is doing a wonderful job helping to accomplish just that.” Europe has been naming capitals of culture since 1985, but Linz09 is the first one to bring a project like this to fruition: one that uses musical creativity to bring people closer together.
Hubert von Goisern
Hubert von Goisern was born in 1952 in Bad Goisern in the Province of Upper Austria. Considered the founder of Alpine Rock, he’s been German-speaking Europe’s most successful artist in this pop cultural-musical genre for over 15 years. His projects, ideas and musical encounters have one overarching theme: real cultural exchange lived out in real life. During the course of numerous international tours and collaborative work with Tibetan, African and Arabic musicians, Hubert von Goisern has repeatedly proved that he’s willing and able to engage in a genuine process of creative exchange with his musical associates. He finds music all around the globe, and sums up what he does in these terms: “We all live in the same world. Above us is the same sky—just a different portion of it.”
www.hubertvongoisern.com
