_The Redheaded Man
…and then I realized that I am the world, but the world is not me. (2026)
Commission 
25_April_2026_15 Uhr
26_April_2026_11 Uhr
WERK°STADT Witten

Sept_11_2026_8pm
Alte Feuerwache Cologne, as part of our concert series HW26C_

13_Nov_2026_21.30
Pädagogische Hochschule, Weingarten
Im Rahmen des Festivals weit! neue musik weingarten

Ensemble hand werk
Daniel Agi_ Flute
Heni Hyunjung Kim_ Clarinet
Moritz Koch_ Percussion
Jae A Shin_ Violin
Niklas Seidl_ Cello
Thibaut Surugue_ Piano

Julio Zúñiga, Sound Design
Chaya Czernowin, Composition/Directions
Julian Hawig/Roman Sroka, Light Design
Victoria Maraia, Costumes/Scene
Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Victor Arul, Consulting

Composer Chaya Czernowin addresses the issues of our time in a highly political yet open, associative manner, using visually striking imagery: through physical gestures, instrumental situations, and theatrical scenes. The work is based on five absurd texts by Russian writer Daniil Kharms, whose fragmentary writings expose the fractures in everyday logic.
The composer says about her work – a so called "synesthetic listening event":

This is not an opera, nor a traditional concert, but a hybrid event—where instruments are extensions of the performers bodies, and where light, stillness, and motion are scored alongside pitch and rhythm. Scenes are episodic and atmospheric, unfolding as sonic environments rather than narrative arcs. […]

This project is my first attempt at an entirely new kind of work. I am stepping into the theatrical and metaphorical interactive space from which my music usually emanates — and making that space itself present: visually, theatrically, and atmospherically.
I am learning from the theatrical work of Pina Bausch, not by imitation, but by translating some of her principles into a musical context. What is usually subconscious — what normally operates beneath the surface of the music — becomes part of what is actually visible on stage, not only audible. The audience does not just hear the inner world of the piece; they encounter it physically and visually.

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Funded by the Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft NRW as well as GVL Stiftung and Cultural Department of the City of Cologne. With kind support by Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung.

Accessibility
Means of transport/path to the venue and the venue itself are accessible for wheelchair users. There is a barrier-free toilet in the foyer (stage). Please find more information on the website of our location Alte Feuerwache, see here.

The World Premiere on April 25/26 2026 at Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik was made possible by the support of Forberg-Schneider-Stiftung..