Gütersloh, 01/29/2024

Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung Sponsors 14 Music Projects For Young People

With its ideas initiative “Kulturelle Vielfalt mit Musik” (Cultural diversity with music), the Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung  again sought exemplary projects to promote the cultural and social participation of young people across Germany in 2023. The selected 14 initiatives range from the development of a city district opera to a dance performance, human interaction with nature, and storytelling based on Kenian tradition with dance and music.

Using music as a connecting force to promote the coexistence of young people across cultural and linguistic boundaries – the Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung is committed to this mission. With the ideas initiative “Cultural Diversity with Music”, the foundation established by Liz Mohn will be supporting projects for children and youths across Germany in the fields of music, dance, theater, art and literature for the sixteenth time. This year, 14 initiatives were selected, and each will receive up to €7,500 in financial support. In total, the funding amounts to €88,228. The winning projects are located in 11 cities: Halle (Saale), Nuremberg, Berlin, Eberstadt, Kassel, Hamburg, Essen, Gütersloh, Frankfurt/Main, Meppen and Wernsdorf.

In the selected projects, young people of different origins will get the chance to experience cultural participation, develop mutual understanding and experience coexistence in a community. In Essen, for example, a multicultural children’s group together with an adult choir is committed to the topic of respect through songs, poems and ideas. In a meeting project of two comprehensive schools in Kassel, the students develop songs that they give to each other via digital toolboxes. In a children’s daycare center in Potsdam, a musical project aims to contribute to scial integration and prevent xenophobia, while a school in Hamburg combines a children’s opera with a staged reading and exhibition to educate about antisemitism. The culture and music projects are organized by associations, cultural and educational institutions as well as social sponsors.

234 integration projects have been funded to date

“Building bridges of understanding across all languages and borders is of special interest to me. The culture and music projects provide wonderful opportunities for this purpose since they promote creativity and communicate values such as tolerance, compassion and community. Therefore, they make an important contribution to young people’s personality development and are models for coherence, which strengthens our democracy. I thank all participants and congratulate the winners in 11 cities across Germany,” said Founder Liz Mohn.

The funded projects 2023/2024 are: “Brass ist krass” (Halle/ Saale), “Digital Dream” (Nuremberg), “High Cool Musical Eberstadt” (Darmstadt), “Ich schenk dir meinen Song” (Kassel), “Ilse meets Theresienstadt” (Hamburg), “Natursinne” (Hamburg), “Respekt!” (Essen), “So klingt die Welt – Musik verbindet und kennt keine Grenzen” (Gütersloh), “Soundscapes” (Hamburg), “Transkulturelle Stadtteiloper” (Frankfurt), “Vielfalt entdecken – Gestalte deine Welt aus Kunst und Klang!” (Meppen), “Vielfalt verbindet und macht stark” (Halle/ Saale), “#Zusammen bunt” (Potsdam), “Alef-Bet – Das musikalische Alphabet der Erinnerungskultur” (Wernsdorf).

Last year, a total of 73 initiators from across Germany applied for funding from the Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung. The selected projects will each receive up to €7,500, with the funding amounting to a maximum of 80 percent of the cost. The term is between three and six months and starts at the beginning of 2024. With her foundation, Liz Mohn has funded 234 integration projects to date with around €1.1 million in total.