Anne-Kathrin Peitz

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Understanding how the musical world was impacted by the World War I.

The Unanswered Ives is the first film about Charles Ives (1874-1954), an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. The 60-minute documentary sheds light on Ives' life and work in all its facets and inconsistencies. American singer and composer Frank Zappa included Charles Ives in a list of influences that he presented in the liner notes of his debut album Freak Out! (1966). Ives continues to influence contemporary composers, arrangers and musicians. Planet Arts Records released Mists: Charles Ives for Jazz Orchestra. Ives befriended and encouraged a young Elliott Carter. In addition, Phil Lesh, bassist of the Grateful Dead, has described Ives as one of his two musical heroes.

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The Sound Weavers: Ludovico Einaudi, Hauschka, Joep Beving, Hania Rani Sold-out concerts, millions of albums sold to make the classical music industry green with envy: neoclassical, as the new musical trend is called, is a mega hit. What makes the form so popular? Is this music skillful or just comforting? Are its composers Mozart 2.0 or rather maestros for the masses? Do they build a bridge to the musical past, allowing our ears to roam comfortably in familiar territory? The documentary traces the journey of some of the protagonists of the genre by telling their stories, and seeking answers from sociologists, neuroscientists, musicologists and even marketing experts. But above all, it allows these creators – these weavers – to have their say.

Erik Satie is considered one of the most unusual figures in the French musical world of the early 20th century. He was not only a composer—he was also a designer, founder of a church, PR pioneer, author, and inventor of “musique d’ameublement,” a special kind of background music created for the purpose of shaping spaces acoustically. Satie’s concept of furniture music—sound wallpaper—his ideas of simplicity and clarity, were significant for the further development of minimalism. And yet, because of its plainness, his music was often criticized by contemporaries. The documentary presents Satie’s world with a wink—just as the eccentric and humorous composer viewed himself and the act of making music. A multifaceted, dazzling, and versatile personality.