H.I.P.S.T.E.R.
HISTORICALLY INFORMED PERFORMANCE SERIES,
TEACHING, EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH
When?
Saturday 4th October 3pm–4pm
Where?
The Hunt Museum - Limerick, Captain's Room
About
They say that the legendary “Pied Piper” enticed the children of Hamelin away after having rid the German village of rats. He still lives in children’s stories today—but what music might the Pied Piper have played? The man behind the myth was probably a flute-playing medieval recruitment officer, commissioned by the Baltic aristocracy to attract young families to migrate northwards. By all accounts, he was successful, and managed to entice 130 young people to leave Hamelin in that summer of 1284. Medieval flute specialist Norbert Rodenkirchen has long been fascinated by the Pied Piper, which set him on a search for a musical programme inspired by the story and other historical events. With a treasure-trove of melodies by a Slavic prince, ancient dances from northern Poland, and more, Rodenkirchen brings his extensive experience in medieval improvisation to the stage, weaving a tapestry of enchanting melodies which could well have been played by the Pied Piper himself.
TICKETS €15/€10
Norbert Rodenkirchen studied flute at the Staatliche Musikhochschule Köln. He has been the flute player of Sequentia since 1996 and also works regularly with the French ensemble Dialogos directed by Katarina Livljanic. With both ensembles he has been invited to numerous international festivals. He is also much in demand as a composer of music for theater and film as well as a producer for CD projects, most of them in coproduction with the WDR/ West German Radio. From 2003 to 2011 Norbert Rodenkirchen was artistic director of the concert series „Schnuetgen Konzerte – Musik des Mittelalters“ in the medieval museum of Cologne. Additionally he has given workshops on medieval instrumental improvisation at renowned academies like the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Musikhochschule Köln or the conservatory of Lyon and taught medieval traverso at HEM Geneva. Since 2019 he is at the board of zamus, Koeln, the centre of early music in Cologne.
www.norbertrodenkirchen.org (Photo credit: Sonja Werner)