Music pavilions on Frankfurt's bridges bring people closer to the most diverse types of music

Whether classical or K-pop, operettas or rap: people are offered a wide range of live music on the Frankfurt Bridges. With 26 music pavilions, an „everyday music life" is created without the hurdles of planning, ticket reservations or sacrificing entire evenings to attend a performance. For in the pavilions short concerts are given, which can be attended spontaneously and take place in a suitable, beautiful ambience: Classical songs, jazz, rap, chansons or even medieval music - everything is represented in specially designated pavilions. Artists from Europe and around the world are invited to Frankfurt and accommodated through a guest programme of bridges. Frankfurt thus becomes an international city of music, where music becomes accessible to citizens and can be experienced in everyday life.

Content: Music pavilions on the Frankfurt Bridges will create a diverse and international world of music.

Music pavilions are being built across the entire network of the Frankfurt Bridges, where all kinds of music are played. The concerts are timed so that different target groups can also go spontaneously, the ambience is very comfortable and pleasantly designed and the ticket prices are extremely reasonable.

Classical music as well as music from different cultures is presented and explained in such a way that even people who are not familiar with this type of music will find access to it.

The programme is designed in cooperation with universities and cultural associations, and artists from all musical genres are given uncomplicated and relaxed access to the audience thanks to the comparatively small venue.

The concept of the music pavilions

The music pavilions are spread over the bridges, approximately every two to three kilometres one comes across a building that is designated as a music pavilion on the ground floor. The number of seats varies greatly, there are music pavilions that are rather small with 55 to 60 square meters and look like a salon; and there are others that cover up to 110 square meters (in each case plus required functional rooms such as toilets, artist's room or also kitchenette). This limits the number of spectators to between 35 and 80.

There are short concerts not only in the evenings, but also sometimes throughout the day, which you can attend spontaneously for an affordable entrance fee: A concert lasting about 45 to 60 minutes costs about 5 euros - for young listeners under 20 years, pensioners, low-income earners with bridge ticket, etc. it costs half.

In addition to a basic fee from the bridge company, the musicians receive exactly the income they have generated on top (in the case of reductions, they receive the normal price (subsidized by the operation company of the Frankfurt Bridges), so that even in the case of small pavilions, an adequate fee can be earned with short concerts. For evening concerts, the duration and ticket prices are adjusted accordingly.

Each pavilion has a musical focus: 10 pavilions have a classical European concert programme, 2 represent very special genres with chansons/film songs and medieval music, respectively, 10 pavilions offer modern music and 3 pavilions have regional focuses: In the Asian quarter on the West arm it is East Asian music, in the Oriental quarter a little further on this bridge arm it is music from various countries of the Middle East, and a pavilion on the Ring in Sachsenhausen offers music from various African countries. In addition, there is a pavilion in the Regenbodenviertel, which is designed for all kinds of music and shows programmes from all the other pavilions as well as adding its own artists or programmes: modern and classical, European and international - simply music and songs of all kinds.

The Bridge Society offers the possibility to invite artists from all over the world within the framework of guest programmes.

Concert halls and opera houses can rarely finance themselves from ticket revenues, but are dependent on support from the state and sponsors, both for the upkeep of the premises and for marketing and, of course, for the artists' fees.

On the bridges, the operation company of the Frankfurt Bridges assumes this function.

It also has the advantage of being able to adequately accommodate artists from all over the world who are invited to perform on the bridges in specially designated guesthouses. With the discount bridge card, guests can turn their stay in Frankfurt into a real experience.

Music pavilions with different musical focuses enrich the cultural everyday life everywhere on the bridges.

"Classical Music for All": Making classical music accessible to all groups in society

The concept of the Music Pavilion also reaches those who do not usually take the time to go to a classical concert: After all, many people don't have a close connection to classical music; but when the opportunity arises in everyday life to spontaneously enjoy a performance or two without any barriers, they are happy to seize the opportunity.

The concert programme of the Music Pavilion can be read on a display panel located next to the entrance to the Pavilion: You can select the language via a button menu and not only see the overview for the current next few hours, but also scroll forward with the buttons so that you can get an overview of what will be played in the coming days. The displayed dates are also available on the Internet on a web page.

None of the concerts lasts longer than one and a half hours. This way you can combine the visit of a concert with other activities: Go to a doctor's appointment beforehand, do some shopping or go out for dinner afterwards - you don't have to sacrifice whole afternoons or evenings.

Example program

Violin 10.30 - 11.30 a.m.

Sabine Schmidt Violin, Jan Kaminski Piano

J. S. Bach Solo Sonata No 1 in G minor, BWV 1001W.

Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor KV 304

Wieniawski Polonaise No 1 D major op 4

Helmut Lachenmann Toccatina for violin solo

Singing 13.00 - 14.00

Sarah Weber vocals, Denis Petrov piano

J. S. Bach Bereite Dich Zion - from the Christmas Oratorio BWV 248.

Mozart Batti batti - from Don Giovanni

R. Schumann Songs op 107

H. Hollinger: Six songs after poems by Christian Morgenstern

Piano: 3.30 - 4.30 pm

Akio Takahashi piano, Alexander Fischer flute

J. S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in C Major from The Well-TemperedClavierBd II BWV 870L. v.

Beethoven Sonata F majorop 10 No 2F.

Chopin Ballade No 1 in G minor op. 23

G. Ligeti EtudeNo 4 "Fanfares

C. Reinecke Sonata Undine for flute and piano ol. 167

Surprise concert18:30 - 19:45

Yi-min Yun

Classicalmusicarrangedforharp

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Making classical pieces more accessible through short entertaining explanations

You know it mostly from children's concerts, but it is an approach that can also be very useful for adults: Those who rarely listen to classical music usually can't classify the pieces played - neither historically nor musically and need some background information.

For these - usually rather sporadic - listeners, there are various QR codes for explanations next to each piece on the information board at the music pavilion (or their illustration on the Internet), marked with the numbers one to three depending on the depth and complexity of the explanation: (1) one for "basic information", (2) two for "interesting information about the pieces" and (3) three for "professional information".

If you read in these codes, a short video is played for (1), which has a maximum length of 60 seconds, at most the length of a Tik Tok video.

For (2), the video can last up to 5 minutes and reveals interesting and amusing details about the piece.

And if you read in code (3), there is a somewhat more detailed explanation about the piece, its "musical peculiarities" and, if applicable, the present interpretation in the following performance; these videos can also last five minutes and are intended only for the music connoisseurs among the listeners.

In this way, everyone has the opportunity to prepare for the piece(s) in advance, even if the concert is spontaneous - in the minutes, so to speak, while waiting for the concert to begin.

There are musicians who can take on this task of entertaining, concise explanations even themselves at the beginning of the concert or in between for individual pieces, especially for category two (2). But of course it is not equally suited to everyone to be an eloquent entertainer as well as an excellent musician.

The creation of Tik-Tok-like basic information videos can become a part of the music lessons at secondary schools in Frankfurt

Under the heading "(1) Basic Information" one learns, for example, about "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" by Mozart, that the piece was quite insignificant during his lifetime and was probably never performed. Furthermore, it is mentioned that Mozart used the term "Nachtmusik" to translate the Italian word "Serenada", i.e. a piece that is played "sera" - "in the evening/at night". The brief introduction of some classical serenade as well as the Nachtmusik with passages that show parallels leads to the last point of explanation: conventional serenades tend to use wind instruments, whereas Mozart relied on string instruments for the little Nachtmusik.

Creating short films with soundtrack, narrator and film editing is a skill that more and more young people are already mastering earlier and earlier in their lives, regardless of whether they attend Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium - the routine of generating TikTok or Youtube videos is distributed among young people regardless of their education. So if a music program is given two to three months in advance to the music teachers of different schools in Frankfurt, it is technically easy for their student body to create the corresponding basic information videos. And the music teachers can probably use these nice project tasks to get their student body to engage with any piece from the classical period much more easily.

It is even to be expected that the students will thereby develop an increased interest in listening to the pieces for which their class has made the TikTok videos - be it during school time as a field trip, be it privately after school time. The classical music of the music pavilions thus reaches another important target group.

In video (2) "Interesting Information" interpretive and entertaining aspects of the play are presented by artists of the same profession

For those interested in music, who know the piece and also the most important information about it, there is also a QR code, labeled "Interesting Information" - all of which have entertaining aspects to the piece.

In the case of the Little Night Music, for example, it would be its relation to Mozart's creative period: The piece was probably completed by Mozart shortly before Don Giovanni's second act, i.e. sometime around 1786/87: at this time Mozart had . . . .

Furthermore, the historical framework that shaped the music of the time: The French Revolution was at hand . . .

This part has to be created by music professionals who are working in the same field, especially because for explanatory purposes certain passages have to be played in a certain way. In the event that the musicians performing in the pavilion do not have the confidence to put something like this together on their own and perform it entertainingly in front of the camera (or even if their German or English is not good enough), they will look for a colleague with whom they can record it together. Since it is only two to five minutes, this can be presented as preparation for the performances on the bridges. For these videos there is a special remuneration from the Bridge Society, and they then become the property of the Bridge Society, to be reused as needed in subsequent years or to be made available to the Bridge Society's cooperation partners as well.

In level (3) videos, musical specifics are explained for music professionals, whether in relation to the piece or in relation to its planned interpretation

There will be explanatory codes behind the individual pieces although the target group of music connoisseurs who understand and appreciate this information does not have to be won over as an audience through the music pavilions, but can also gather such information for themselves in pod casts or from the press.

However, in the case of prominent guests in the music pavilions, it is an interesting seminar or project task for the Frankfurt Academy of Music or the Conservatory to highlight somewhat more exotic or unknown pieces or composers, in short films for specialist audiences, and to compile interesting facts about them from the specialist world. Translated with.

Explainer videos are also important for the singing performed in the music pavilions

Either songs are presented or individual arias from operas or operettas are performed in concert. For the latter in particular, it is important that the audience not only receives some basic information about the piece in advance, but also learns about the plot of the opera or operetta and the context from which the performed songs originate.

Also with single songs it is very helpful, if the song content is explained briefly by video beforehand, since one can sometimes not understand all parts literally, and won‘t be able to fully appreciate it contentwise without historical context.

Salon music on a small scale as a model

Shorter concerts inserted into an extended evening programme have existed since the 19th century in the form of salon music.

This traditionally has something of a "casual get-together", even though first-class concerts can take place in this setting.

Julian Leitenstorfer - www.julianleitenstorfer.de

Example architecture for a classical pavilion

On the ground floor in this example, there is a small lockable staircase wall cupboard under the lower part of the stairs, and a WC under the higher steps. On the other side of the stage is the "artists' room" with a small kitchenette. It is used for the artists' entrance to the stage and their exit. The interior height of the building is over 10 metres, as the shape of the roof and the absence of a second level in favour of the gallery creates a dome.

The acoustics in all music pavilions must be taken into account in the planning, be it by using stucco elements, material specifications for the interior elements or other means for acoustic optimisation.

The comfort factor

Comfortable seating makes a concert a real pleasure, and endurance, especially when listening to longer classical pieces, is not put to the test by the lack of seating comfort.

Even if it is unfortunately difficult to recreate an appropriately luxurious living room atmosphere similar to that of classical salons, the aim should still be to make the ambience as cosy and comfortable as possible for spectators and artists.

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Depending on the genre, the models are different

In the present design, therefore, very comfortable, wide seats are provided, with a proper backrest as well as armrests. These seats are upholstered and covered with easy-to-clean imitation leather.

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While the music pavilions for classical music are also dominated by classical architecture and salon atmosphere, the pavilions for modern music genres are designed more like jazz cellars or clubs.

And depending on the genre, sitting on the floor is also conceivable

The buildings on the bridges are heated by heat pumps and therefore have thermally activated surfaces - accordingly also floor heating. In the case of music pavilions, whose programme attracts almost exclusively younger people, the warm floor also comes into question as a seating option for the audience.

The concert organizers for the bridge pavilions with classical program

There are 10 classical music pavilions offering up to 4 short concerts per day. However, this does not require 40 artists, but most artists can perform four concerts throughout the day with their repertoire. Moreover, they do not only perform their repertoire in one pavilion in Frankfurt, but also visit other pavilions.

If the programme on the bridges is to change every two weeks, 20 artists or artist teams per month must be engaged accordingly for the classical music pavilions. This can either be done by a concert promoter or it can be divided among four people who have a different function in Frankfurt's musical landscape and each take on the artist management for two or three of the ten pavilions. These individuals can be recruited either from the professors and lecturers of the Frankfurt Musikhochschule or the Hochschen Konservatorium, or from one of Frankfurt's numerous music societies.

The advantage of dividing the programme among several concert organisers is that the programme becomes more varied. The pavilion organizers can coordinate among themselves for the appearance of the artists in several pavilions.

It is also important for concert organizers to cooperate with long-established concert halls and opera houses in the Rhine-Main region. The artists performing there, be it guest appearances or the permanent ensembles, should also be offered the opportunity to perform in the pavilions. Here, however, the main motivation is probably not so much the fee, but rather the possibility of winning completely new target groups for one's own branch. In addition, orchestral musicians can also give solo concerts in the pavilions if they so wish.

The master school for musically gifted children

There are excellent institutes for the promotion of musically gifted children in Germany - they only have one disadvantage: The children either have to be lucky enough to live nearby, or the parents drive the child there and back for several hours once a week, or the child goes to a music boarding school, which is an option at least from the age of 11 or the 5th grade.

If these options are out of the question for a child or his or her parents, either for logistical reasons or because the child's personality is not suitable for boarding school life, then intensive support for talent must until the child has reached an age where he or she is mobile.

This is solved differently on the Frankfurt Bridges: There is a music school for musically gifted children on the North arm of the bridge, which has a total of 60 pupils. Children are admitted from the age of 8, and if a child comes from a more distant region, a relocation service is offered for the parents by the Bridge Society, ensuring that the family not only has cheap housing available on the bridges, but that at least one parent - ideally both - get a job through the Bridge Society. This makes the Music Master School unique in the whole of Europe, as it is precisely this that poses an insoluble problem for many families with highly gifted children: One usually cannot give up one's own livelihood in order to move close to the highly gifted support facility. Unless one is offered a new existence there.

American and European Jazz - with Swing and Blues

On the Frankfurt Bridges there are 10 music pavilions with modern concert offerings, two of which specialize in jazz. While the pavilion or "club" at the intersection of Batton-Straße and Kurt-Schumacher-Straße focuses on traditional American Anglo-Saxon jazz music, the club on Strahlenberger Straße is dedicated to the various European jazz trends: Almost all European countries have their own jazz trends, whether in Poland or the Czech Republic, Greece or Italy - you can hear the differences.

For the club on the Offenbach Master Bridge, artists are therefore invited from all over Europe as part of the guest programme of the bridges. Just like the guest students and guest masters of the Master Academy, they bring a piece of European culture and tradition to Frankfurt and Offenbach.

Jazz musicians from the Rhine-Main region as well as artists from the USA are invited to the City-Center-Club, also as part of the guest program of the Frankfurt Bridges.

Lucas Vallecillos - Jazz Club Prag - alamy.com

On the north arm of the Frankfurt Bridges rock music from the USA and Europe, but also from Asia is played

Rap on the bridges

Two pavilions on the bridges have rap as their focus. Similar to jazz, one pavilion will focus more on German rap and rap from the USA and England, while the other pavilion will invite artists from other countries.

Because even if you rarely get to hear it here: there is even Chinese, Arabic, Japanese or Turkish rap - to name just a few examples.

Traditional and modern artists perform in the African music pavilion

Each month, the programme in the pavilion focuses on a new region in Africa: the variety of musical styles is hardly known in Europe.

In the month alone, where for example music from Cameroon is on the program, artists with completely different focus are invited: Makossa, Ngoso, Bikutsi, Zanza or Balafon and many more.

A challenge in programming is the combination or variety between more traditional music and its modern counterpart: If, for example, artists are invited who play music in the Bend Skin style, then it is enriching if a band also performs at the same time or in succession who plays Mangambeu music: the traditional music of the Bangangte people in Cameroon, from which Bend Skin music originated.

The role of the concert organizer is correspondingly demanding, which can only be solved with cooperation partners such as the Music in Africa Foundation.

The pavilion for oriental music presents artists from over 30 countries

The Music Pavilion with Middle Eastern music focuses on traditional music from over 30 countries - from Afghanistan to Persia, Turkey and all Arabic countries to the Arabic-speaking regions of North Africa.

Concert organizers who know and could engage this wide range of music and artists do not yet exist. In the Middle Eastern quarter on the Frankfurt Bridges, located on the West arm of the bridges, an association for the promotion of Middle Eastern music is founded with the support of the Bridge Society.

This association can define the concert programme in cooperation with the numerous cultural associations of the most diverse countries in Frankfurt and engage or invite the corresponding artists.

In the pavilion for East Asian music, the focus is on performances with traditional instruments

A similar challenge as with the music pavilions for African and Middle Eastern music is also posed by the pavilion for East Asian music: Even if it often sounds very similar to European ears, the music of the individual East Asian countries is nevertheless very different, being rooted in different musical traditions.

Here, too, on the arm of the bridges in the Asian quarter, with the support of the Bridge Society, an association for the organization of concerts from East Asia will be founded, which will engage the appropriate artists in cooperation with cultural associations of these countries.

Even though the focus is on traditional music, concerts with distinctive modern music from the respective expatriate community can also be organized at times for the younger generation.

Cowardlion - Japanese Concert - dreamstime.com

The on-site management of the event will be taken over by the nearest operator kiosk

Scattered across the Frankfurt Bridges at regular intervals are the so-called "operator kiosks". These are staffed by a well-coordinated team of pensioners, trainees, students and other groups for whom 520-Euro jobs and the proximity of the work to their residence (on the bridges or nearby) is interesting.

With this pool of personnel, the Bridge Society can operate the kiosks 24/7. The duty officers are not only the contact point for tourists or the general sale of bridge tickets; they are also the switching points for the cleaning crews that clean toilets and public places on the bridges, or also the network and contact point for the gardening crews that maintain the greenery on and next to the bridges.

The kiosk attendants come to the pavilions at the beginning of the performance, let the audience in, check tickets, make sure the pavilion is closed when the maximum audience has been reached, and come back at the end of the performance to lock up again and check that the pavilion has been cleaned and ventilated by the cleaning crews and is ready for the next concert.

The music pavilions are not a "closed shop"

During the time windows when no concerts are taking place in the pavilions, the Bridge Society's music cooperation partners can book the music pavilions free of charge in order to hold concerts or lectures etc. there themselves. The only condition is that the pavilions are cleaned and left ready for the next pavilion concert.

The Bridge Society's music cooperation partners include the music departments of Frankfurt's secondary schools, the Musikhochschule, the Hochsche Konservatorium, numerous cultural associations from various countries and other foundations and associations with a musical focus such as the Chamber Music Association of the Frankfurter Sparkasse, the Frankfurter Bürgerstiftung in the Holzhausenschlösschen and many more.

The music pavilions reduce the barriers to music experiences so that all people have a chance to integrate music into their everyday lives

With 26 music pavilions, there's always something going on: When old and young alike are thinking about spending a few Euros on a movie on Amazon Prime or Google to kill time, they can alternatively check out what's playing in the individual music pavilions.

In all the pavilions, the kiosk attendants sell drinks and snacks at almost cost price at the beginning of the performance, so that the difference to the couch in your own living room becomes smaller and smaller.

Thanks to the autonomous transport system, all pavilions can be reached doot-to-door from any point on the bridge, so it is comparatively easy to get to your chosen pavilion concert from any point in Frankfurt.

The music pavilions all have loudspeaker systems, with which the concerts can also be heard sitting around the pavilions - very discreetly and quietly in the vicinity of residential areas; on the outer arms, on the other hand, where there are no residents either on or next to the bridges, either the loudspeakers can transmit the music more strongly or the windows of the pavilions can also be opened: This way, in milder weather, people sitting on the surrounding benches and little walls or meadows can also hear the concerts.

Listening to live music together with other people thus becomes a part of everyday life in Frankfurt - a concept that can also be applied in other cities.

Conclusion: The music pavilions create a network of music that can be experienced in an uncomplicated way as part of the everyday life of the people in Frankfurt.

With their different music pavilions, the bridges "distribute" the music experiences throughout Frankfurt. All people can attend a concert spontaneously and on their doorstep without the big hurdles of planning, reservations, without travelling to concert venues in the city, without sacrificing whole evenings for a musical experience, emjoying performances which are interesting, top-class and comparatively short and open to all.

Classical pieces that are more difficult to access are explained either by the artists or through explanatory videos.

From time to time, fellow citizens from other cultural circles find their home music live on the bridges and can show it to other fellow citizens.

Frankfurt shows its internationality not only through its airport and financial world, but also "lives" its cosmopolitanism with a corresponding range of music.

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