Dialogues
We hold in-depth conversations with leading figures in the cultural scene, from artists and curators to festival directors and cultural policymakers. These discussions provide an opportunity to feel the pulse of the industry, analyze current developments, and absorb new creative impulses.
As a dynamic platform for interdisciplinary exchange, these dialogues not only serve as a valuable newsfeed for our network but also create connections between established institutions, independent artists, and innovative projects. Through the introduction of exciting personalities and close collaboration with our partners, we offer insights into forward-thinking trends and new synergies within the creative scene.
Whether discussing new approaches in cultural management, sustainable production methods, or artistic concepts, the dialogues reflect the diversity of the industry and encourage dialogue among those actively shaping and rethinking culture.
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with
Matthew Whiteside
Matthew Whiteside is a composer, sound artist and festival director whose work spans contemporary classical music, electronics, film and sound installation. With an open and curious approach to artistic practice, he creates works and concert formats that place listening itself at the centre of the experience, inviting audiences to discover new ways of engaging with contemporary music.
As an artist, festival director and collaborator, Matthew is part of the Kulturhaltestelle network. Over the past few years, our paths have crossed repeatedly through various festivals and professional networks. Each encounter has sparked inspiring conversations about music, concert formats and artistic practice. This interview grew out of that ongoing dialogue.
Your work spans concert music, sound design, electronics, film and installation. What connects these different areas in your artistic practice?
I think it is very easy to get hung up on different genre and the different contexts we work in but to me it is all just about sound floating in time. Each of the contexts can have different baggage attached to it and different needs. Writing a stand alone piece of music is different from working on a film score, and different again from an installation. A stand alone piece of music needs to have its own internal logic that holds the piece together and keeps the listener engaged but ultimately it is my choice as the composer what that flow is, what feels right to me, and how the work should unfold.
Interview, 3 July 2026
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with Miako Klein
Miako Klein is a musician and performer whose work moves between Early Music, contemporary music, improvisation, and experimental concert formats. With a deep openness to diverse artistic forms of expression, she creates sonic spaces that place listening itself at the center of the experience while challenging traditional boundaries between stage and audience.
Miako will be appearing at the Weissenhorn Klassik Festival 2026 with the formats Conscious Listening and Breath, Movement and Sound. Both events combine music with mindfulness, movement, and attentive perception, offering new ways of engaging with the concert experience. This conversation was recorded in anticipation of her festival appearance. In it, she reflects on the connection between Early Music and improvisation, the value of attention in an overstimulated world, and the ways music can create spaces for presence, connection, and new listening experiences.
Your work moves between Early Music, contemporary music, improvisation, and performance. What connects these different worlds for you?
For me, these fields are connected by a shared language that allows for freedom and open space. Early Music often feels unfamiliar to us today simply because of the historical distance. While we strive for historically informed interpretations, we ultimately do not know exactly how this music once sounded. In addition, much of what musicians did at the time was never written down. They relied on conventions and improvisational skills that were taken for granted and therefore did not need to be documented.
Improvisation was an essential part of music-making. In that sense, Early Music can sometimes feel just as abstract to us as a contemporary composition. What fascinates me is precisely this combination of openness, improvisational freedom, and a certain degree of ambiguity. It allows us to make the music our own and to develop a personal relationship with it. For me, that is the bridge between these different worlds.
June 8, 2026.
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with Niklas Carlsson
Niklas Carlsson is an artist, festival maker and cultural worker. For decades, his practice has moved between artistic work, independent festival production and engagement in cultural policy. Through the festival Uma Obscura in Umeå, he creates spaces for alternative art and subcultural expression. As part of Kontaktnätet, a nationwide network of non-profit cultural organisations in Sweden, he works to strengthen democratic, inclusive and sustainable structures within the cultural field.
Niklas and Georges met earlier this year at the Sweden Festivals Conference in Sandviken. The invitation to Sweden came through the international network of the European Festivals Association (EFA), of which Kulturhaltestelle is an active member, engaging in Europe-wide exchange around festival and cultural work. The interview was conducted on the occasion of Niklas’ recent visit to Berlin. In this conversation, he reflects on collective ways of working, the meaning of subculture beyond questions of style, structural inequalities in cultural funding, and the responsibility experienced cultural practitioners carry towards emerging scenes and initiatives. He also discusses what needs to change for independent culture to remain a transformative force in the years ahead.
You have spent decades working simultaneously as an artist, festival maker and network organiser. When you look at your work from the outside, what is the common thread that connects all these activities?
The most obvious answer would probably be creativity, art and cultural work, but that feels too easy. My real drive is creating art and trying to make visions come true. If I could choose freely, I would spend much more time on my own artistic work. But that is rarely possible. I cannot make a full living from the kind of art I love to create, as it is neither commercial nor fully recognised by current cultural policy, and therefore lacks strong support structures.
December 12, 2025.
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with Nicolas Namoradze
The Georgian-Hungarian pianist, composer, and music researcher Nicolas Namoradze (Tbilisi, 1992) is one of the most fascinating voices of his generation. His work unfolds at the intersection of virtuosity, neuroscience, and a profound practice of mindful listening. In his performances, he interweaves highly precise piano playing with thought experiments, reflections, and guided exercises that invite audiences into a more conscious perception of sound. His artistic outlook is shaped by the conviction that music is not merely heard, but experienced, with focus, curiosity, and inner calm.
Nicolas Namoradze has appeared several times at the Weissenhorn Klassik Festival, most recently in 2022 with his acclaimed mindfulness program, which left a lasting impression on our audience. This made clear just how remarkably versatile his approach is a format that resonates not only with adults but can be applied just as effectively and playfully with schoolchildren.
We are now delighted to welcome Nicolas for a conversation about his artistic vision, his research on deep listening, and his ideas for the future of the concert experience.
What inspired you to explore and develop your mindful, deep-listening concert formats?
My initial interest in mental skills and mindfulness actually grew out of applying them to performance rather than listening. I’ve always been fascinated by how high-level athletes and performers navigate the mental game, and over the years I’ve integrated elements of sports psychology into my own work. During the pandemic, when I was collaborating with the streaming platform IDAGIO on a featured artist profile, the idea arose to share some of these approaches with their users. However, their audience consists primarily of listeners rather than performers, which led me to adapt these principles to the listening experience, and I realized there was a lot of potential in the concept. It then became evident that the idea could work similarly well in live concerts, where I’d alteranate pieces I perform with short thought experiments, discussions, and guided concentration exercises.
Interview, November 18, 2025.
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with Joana Gama
The Portuguese pianist Joana Gama (Braga, 1983) is a multifaceted artist whose work bridges music, dance, theatre, film, and photography. Her repertoire revolves around composers such as Erik Satie, Hans Otte, and Federico Mompou – musicians who explored silence, contemplation, and reduction. Gama’s artistic approach is guided by a search for music that creates space for stillness and reflection.
We have been following Joana Gama for several years: she has been a regular guest at the Giacinto Scelsi Festival Basel and most recently took part in the Weissenhorn Klassik Jubilee Edition 2024, where she performed Hans Otte’s cycle Das Buch der Klänge (The Book of Sounds). We invited her to talk about her artistic philosophy, her ecological engagement, and her perspective on today’s independent festival culture.
Your repertoire often highlights composers such as Satie, Otte or Mompou, figures associated with silence, contemplation, or experimentation. What draws you to this kind of music?
In a time when it seems you have to scream in order to be heard, I feel I need to do the opposite - I like to play music that is quiet and makes you calmer.
Do you have specific criteria when deciding which composers or works to place at the centre of your programmes?
My decisions always come from an emotional perspective. Usually, I connect with the music or the composer and feel that it needs to be heard by more people. Also, there are composers who are performed every day all over the world, I don’t want to contribute to that homogeneity. There is so much interesting music that deserves to be heard.
Interview September 19, 2025.
Kulturhaltestelle Dialogues – with Marianne Schroeder
Marianne Schroeder is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary music and has dedicated a significant part of her career to the works of Giacinto Scelsi. After studying with renowned teachers such as Klaus Linder and Eliza Hansen, she developed a unique artistic approach, shaped by her deep engagement with contemporary music. Her close collaborations with composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, Giacinto Scelsi, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Christian Wolff are reflected in both her concert activities and her artistic vision.
In 2014, she founded the Giacinto Scelsi Festival in Basel, a festival dedicated to the music and ideas of the Italian composer while also fostering new connections with other artistic movements. Since 2021, she has been collaborating with Kulturhaltestelle as a partner institution, which co-plans and provides organizational support for the festival.
In this interview, Marianne shares her artistic vision, the history of the festival, and her memories of Giacinto Scelsi, the city of Basel, and the founding of the festival.
Interview, December 18, 2024.