Culture

COVID-19: culture funding

Assuming responsibility for the common good is the guiding principle of our work. Especially in times where societies are facing major challenges, solidarity and social cohesion are vital. Worldwide, the COVID-19 crisis dramatically affected the livelihoods and health of countless people.

Ein Künstler des NRW Junior Balletts des Theater Dortmund wird während einer Darstellung in dem Foyer des Pioneer Peers auf dem Wilo Campus gefilmt

Europe

Germany

Dortmund

Funding period: 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was facing an unprecedented crisis. The pandemic claimed many lives, and a large number of people were at risk of losing their jobs or financial security. Even today, it is practically impossible to assess the extent of the material and social damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis, especially on a global scale. During the pandemic, the Wilo-Foundation supported many cultural projects in Germany:

Kultur@Home from the Wilopark

The Wilo-Foundation, having been a sponsor of the Theater Dortmund for many years, provided funding for the theatre’s new and digital-only performance format Kultur@Home. One example: to provide an attractive stage for opera singers and dancers during the time of COVID-19 restrictions and support their work, the Wilo-Foundation invited artists to perform short sequences of their repertoire in the Wilo Pioneer Cube of the new Wilo headquarters at the recently inaugurated Wilopark. The filmed sequences were then used to create videos that were published online. Two members of the Dortmund opera ensemble, the baritone singer Mandla Mndebele accompanied by pianist Christoph JK Müller, performed the aria “È sogno? O realtà?” from the opera “Falstaff” by Giuseppe Verdi and “You‘ll never walk alone”, a Dortmund football anthem. Afterwards, the NRW Junior Ballet paid a dancing tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven with a piece on the topical issue “social distancing”. Finally, two soloists of the Dortmund Ballet ensemble, Javier Cacheiro Alemán und Alisa Uzunova, performed two excerpts from the trilogy “Paradiso” by Xin Peng Wang, director and chief choreographer of the Dortmund Ballet, on the stage of the Wilo Pioneer Cube.

Funding partner: Theater Dortmund

Künstlerinnen und Künstler des NRW Junior Balletts am Theater Dortmund, zwei Personen auf einem Stuhl, eine Person in einem transparenten Ballon — The NRW Junior Ballet performed a dance homage to Ludwig van Beethoven on the topic of "social distancing" at Wilopark. Photo: Wilo-Foundation

Mandla Mndebele (Bariton) begleitet von Christoph JK Müller am Klavier im Foyer des Pioneer Cube auf dem Wilopark — Mandla Mndebele (baritone), accompanied by Christoph JK Müller on the piano, presented the aria "È sogno? O realtà" from the opera "Falstaff" by Giuseppe Verdi as well as "You'll never walk alone" - a Dortmund football anthem. Photo: Wilo-Foundation

Promotion of artists & new digital formats

One of our key principles at the Wilo-Foundation is to assume regional responsibility, and we have been promoting culture and classical music in Dortmund and the surrounding region for many years. In line with this mission, the Wilo-Foundation launched many support programmes in 2020. The aim was to provide financial assistance to the cultural sector and its artists who were dramatically affected by the COVID-19 crisis, stand by their side in these difficult times and encourage them to develop innovative formats.

Emergency assistance for musicians

In March and April 2020, freelance musicians and students had the opportunity to apply to the Wilo-Foundation for emergency financial assistance amounting to 300 euros (or more in individual cases). Overall, more than 30 young musicians received funding, including many students of the Master’s degree programme in Orchestral Performance at the Dortmund-based Orchesterzentrum|NRW in Dortmund and one scholarship holder of the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

Funding partner: Students at the Orchesterzentrum NRW in Dortmund, Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund e.V., Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und Ensemble e.V. and others

Support for “free” ensembles

Private, “free” ensembles were particularly hard hit by the crisis as the number of concerts and listeners was restricted or concerts were cancelled altogether during the pandemic. In order to support such ensembles and enable them to continue working, some of the most renowned ensembles that had originally planned to give concerts in Dortmund received financial support from us including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Balthasar-Neumann Choir and Ensemble, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Akademie für Alte Musik (Academy for Old Music), the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Zwei Männer spielen das Horn, ein Blechblasinstrument — Two horn players from the Cuban-European Academy at a rehearsal in Havana. Photo: Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Ensemble e.V., Freiburg i. Br.

Online music festival

With financial support from the Wilo-Foundation, the Institut für musikalische Bildung IMB (Institute for Musical Education), a private music school in Dortmund-Hörde, launched a free and public accessible online music festival in collaboration with active freelance musicians working at the school. Between 24 May and 19 July 2020, eleven free online concerts were broadcast live each Sunday. They turned out to be a valuable inspiration for the musicians and their pupils and opened up new opportunities for them.

Funding partner: Institut für musikalische Bildung Dortmund (IMB)/ Treffpunkt Musik e.V., Dortmund

Zwei Musiker des Instituts für musikalische Bildung, im Vordergrund ein Mann mit Geige und Mikrofon, im Hintergrund ein Mann mit Akkordeon — Photo: Institut für musikalische Bildung Dortmund (IMB)/ Treffpunkt Musik e.V., Dortmund

Live streams of charity concerts

The Konzerthaus Dortmund hosted a series of free charity concerts that were streamed live – for the very first time. The organ concert by young Iveta Apkalna on 29 March 2020 marked the beginning of the series, which concluded with a performance of the Artemis Quartet on 30 May 2020. More than 50,000 people tuned in to the two concerts supported by the Wilo-Foundation. In addition to the live stream, the Konzerthaus Dortmund also made a call for donations for the emergency response fund of Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung (German Orchestra Foundation).

Funding partner: Konzerthaus Dortmund

Iveta Apkalna spielt die Orgel — Iveta Apkalna. Photo: Konzerthaus Dortmund, Credit: Juris Zigelis

Video of the youth concert choir: “One call away”

In line with its mission to promote young talents, the Wilo-Foundation supported a virtual choir video of the Chorakademie Dortmund (Dortmund Choral Academy). The video consisted of singing performances of 40 young members of the youth concert choir, who had filmed themselves at home. The sequences were later combined and turned into a “choir” as part of a major project that used digital technologies. The idea was to give people an opportunity to sing together, even in times of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding partner: Chorakademie am Konzerthaus Dortmund e.V., Dortmund

Ein Zusammenschnitt mehrerer Bilder von Jugendlichen des Jugendkonzertchors, die in einzelnen Videos singen — Youth Concert Choir of the Choir Academy. Photo: Chorakademie am Konzerthaus Dortmund e.V., Dortmund

Photo header: Javier Cacheiro Aléman, soloist of the Dortmund Ballet Ensemble, at the trilogy "Paradiso" by Xin Peng Wang for the video recordings Kultur@Home at Wilopark Dortmund. Photo: Wilo-Foundation