AvantGarten

In German here.

AvantGarten is a project launched in 2012 by the curator and radio journalist Brita Heizmann, together with her partner John McNally. Brita and John conceived AvantGarten as a small festival where contemporary and experimental music would fill the town of Liedberg – a small village within the municipality of Korschenbroich – with sound and colour.

During the festival’s early editions, it was linked to the Muziek Biennale Niederrhein, under the direction of Ingrid Misterek-Plagge.

Following a brief collaboration as a composer in 2018, Brita handed over the artistic direction of the festival to me in 2020.

Despite the health crisis, AvantGarten 2020 attracted around a hundred visitors to an edition dedicated to contemporary music and its relationship with movement, dance and performance. Artists such as Krisztián Palágy (accordion), the Ensemble Kollektiv3:6Koeln, iSaAc Espinoza Hidrobo and Sara Escribano Maenza (dance) were among the guests at this edition.

In 2022, the festival was held under the motto ‘IN + OUT’, an edition centred on music in dialogue with space and nature. The artists Multipol presented their installation ‘INSULÆ’, bringing electronic music to the festival for the first time. Concerts by the Odelya Trio, soloist Camila Moukarzel-Ortega and the Korschenbroich Gymnasium Choir brought the festival to a close.

For the 2024 edition, the Ensemble DEHIO, the AvantGarten Improvisationsensemble, alongside the Velvet Quartet and the Eternum Saxophone Quartet, presented a programme centred on music and its relationship with society. The programme was rounded off by an exhibition featuring the ‘Towards Sounds’ collection (a project by Ruth Wiesefeld). 2024 marked the first edition of AvantGärten Niederrhein following the dissolution of the Muziek Bienalle in 2023. A one-day Festival transformed into three days, three concerts, three venues.

The 2026 edition is fast approaching! AvantGärten Niederrhein will take place in Neuss (6 September), Nikolauskloster Jüchen (11 September) and, of course, Liedberg (13 September).

AvantGärten takes place every two years and is organised by a small team (comprising the fantastic Christina Nierwetberg and volunteers from Korschenbroich Town Council). We have almost no online presence or social media accounts. We believe in our community and owe our existence to our audience, who, right from the start, have placed their trust in our programmes, which are full of curiosity, surprises and a strong connection to the local area.