“All people become sisters”

The Wilo-Foundation supported in the French town of Laval a concert highlight with the Dortmund duo Anouchka and Katharina Hack as part of the "German Season" and built a bridge to its cultural engagement in Dortmund.

Katharina Hack (piano) and Anouchka Hack (cello) presented works from their new CD "Alle Menschen werden Schwestern". Photo: Wilo-Foundation

The French town of Laval is open to the world and, since 2023, has been organising multi-disciplinary festivals featuring different countries, in order to not only celebrate that openness but also give people in Laval and the surrounding region an opportunity to experience the world and other cultures. The festival highlights countries that have close ties with the town of Laval. Last year, Algeria was the focus theme of the festival, and this year, from 3 October until 19 December 2024, Laval is celebrating its friendship with Germany during the “Saison Allemande” that includes various events and programmes, such as concerts, cinema screenings, business dialogues and special food events. The aim of the festival is to highlight the special relations between Germany and France with the support of local business actors, including the main sponsor Wilo France. The festival also fills the town twinning with Mettmann with life.

Joint performance by the duo Anouchka and Katharina Hack from Dortmund with the well-known French string quartet "Quatuor Voce". Photo: Wilo-Foundation
The "Quatuor Voce" played a quintet piece by Franz Schubert together with Anouchka Hack (cello) and a piece by Astor Piazzolla with Katharina Hack (piano). Photo: Wilo-Foundation

Wilo France in Laval was opened established in 1962. Since then, it has continuously strengthened its profile as a pioneering business and, with its 500 staff members, is an important employer in the region. 
The Wilo-Foundation was therefore pleased to build a bridge between its cultural funding activities in Dortmund and Laval and support the French-German concert programme of the Saison Allemande. It linked up the two Dortmund-born musicians Anouchka Hack (cello) and Katharina Hack (piano) with the organisers of the festival and provided funding for the event. Thanks to this initiative, the duo was invited to Laval by the well-known French string quartet Quatuor Voce to give a joint concert and also lead a master class course on the day before the concert in the newly opened cultural centre Le Quarante with its state-of-the-art acoustics and attractive premises, including the Music Academy and an auditorium that serves as a concert hall. 

Group photo with the well-known string quartet "Quatuor Voce" after the concert evening in the hall of the new "Le Quarante" in Laval: Anouchka Hack (1st from left), Katharina Hack 2nd from left), Evi Hoch (Wilo-Foundation, 4th from left), Laure Masson (Wilo France, Paris, 2nd from right), Olivier Minaud (Wilo France, Laval, 1st from right). Photo: Wilo France

The concert with the Hack duo and Quatuor Voce on 26 November with 250 visitors turned out to be an absolute highlight of the festival. It was opened by the mayor of Laval Florian Bercault, Olivier Minaud (Wilo France Laval) and Evi Hoch (Wilo-Foundation), the latter speaking about the transboundary power of music in her opening remarks.

The audience was thrilled by the Hack sisters’ new programme “All women become sisters”, which included works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Fanny Hensel, Nadia Boulanger, Richard Strauss, Lili Boulanger, Alicia Keys and Marina Baranova. The string quartet Quatuor Voce played pieces by Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.

A French-German highlight was a quintet by Franz Schubert, performed by Quatuor Voce together with Anouchka Hack (cello), and a piece by Astor Piazzolla that Quatuor Voce played together with Katharina Hack (piano).

Among the enthusiastic audience were the Marketing Manager of Wilo France, Laure Masson, who co-organised several business events during the Saison Allemande, and several Wilo employees from Laval.

The Wilo-Foundation has a special relationship with Anouchka and Katharina Hack: about two years ago, the two musicians performed on the opening night of the soirée concerts hosted by Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund at the Wilopark and were on the stage when the Wilo-Foundation received the “Eiserne Reinoldus” Award. Anouchka Hack is an alumna scholarship holder and holds a funding award of the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

The two musicians Anouchka Hack (cello) and Katharina Hack (piano), who were born in Dortmund, performed as a duo with the well-known French string quartet "Quatuor Voce" in Laval. Photo: Wilo France
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