Inaugural Session at HfMT Hamburg
From February 7th-14th, 2026, Hamburg hosted a Musethica Session for the first time, held in cooperation with the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg (HfMT) and the Körber Stiftung.
For one week, four students from the HfMT brought classical music to places where it is rarely heard: hospitals, correctional facilities, residential homes, schools for people with disabilities, and many other social institutions in and around Hamburg.
The session brought together four young musicians: Elisabeth Pihusch (violin), Gung-Hui Ho (viola), Alina Lucia Andersohn (violoncello), and Alex Olmedo Duynslaeger (violoncello). The session took place under the artistic direction of the two tutors Tanja Becker-Bender (violin) and Avri Levitan (viola).
Together, they followed the Musethica idea of combining musical excellence with social engagement and making music accessible in places in and around Hamburg where live concerts rarely took place: workshops for people with disabilities, the Schule Marckmannstraße for children with intellectual disabilities, the Hospiz für Hamburgs Süden, and several social day centres and residential facilities.
On Thursday, February 12th, Avri Levitan and Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender led a seminar titled “The Art of Practicing,” attended by 15 students to explore techniques and ideas for daily practicing.
Completing the session were two public concerts to perform Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18 and Erwin Schulhoff’s Sextet for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos. One on February 11th, 2026 at KörberHaus, and one on February 14th, 2026, at HfMT Hamburg.
