STOP OVER 5 – For Young Ears

Zentrum Under Construction: With STOP OVER 5 – For Young Ears, the pilot phase for establishing a House of Jazz – a future centre for jazz and improvised music in Berlin – continues apace.

This edition of STOP OVER also makes it clear that, in addition to presenting concerts, this centre will, above all, create spaces, structures and resources for artistic development and new, ambitious productions.

STOP OVER 5 – For Young Ears once again highlights various thematic priorities of the future centre and, for the first time, is specifically dedicated to music education for children and young audiences, with a focus on audience development, cultural education and active participation.

Through an open call, musicians, music educators, dramaturgs, composers and interdisciplinary teams were invited to propose innovative concert formats for children. The focus was on low-threshold approaches to jazz and improvised music, as well as opportunities for active participation. Twenty-six proposals were submitted.

Franziska Haberland, Jan Monazahian and Oliver Potratz served as the jury members for STOP OVER 5 – For Young Ears and, drawing on their diverse expertise in artistic practice, music education, cultural education and diversity development, brought a wide range of artistic and educational perspectives to the selection process.

In her proposal, saxophonist, music educator and professor Ulrike Schwarz focuses on a particular phenomenon that she considers relevant both in the world of improvised music and in the school context: ADHD.

She puts forward the following thesis:

People with ADHD – who are frequently confronted with obstacles and a lack of understanding in the tightly regimented and time-pressured routines of working life, school and nursery – find in improvised music a space in which they can flourish and develop.

The wide-ranging, unfocused attention typical of ADHD is, when improvising, a good prerequisite for creativity and connectivity.

Dealing with the unexpected satisfies the need for variety.

Improvised music operates differently from everyday life, which is often strictly regimented, even for children.

Herein lies the great potential of improvised music for everyone who enters this space, whether as a listener or a participant.

Enabling aesthetic experiences within this space is the educational aim of this project. The musicians, a poet and a clown take the children into a world full of improvised surprises and invite them to get actively involved.

Workshops enable children to contribute their own ideas and improvise on stage alongside the professionals. The pieces performed at the concert are short, providing plenty of opportunities for all the other children in the audience to get actively involved.

Dates

• Sunday, 22 November 2026, public performances at 11.00 and 14.00
• Monday, 23 November 2026, school group performances at 09:30 and 11:45

Cast

• Ulrike Schwarz: Concept, artistic and educational direction, composition, presentation, saxophone, flute
• Ulrike Almut Sandig: poetry, voice, performance
• Ligia Liberatori: clown, vocals, presenter
• Carl Ludwig Hübsch: tuba, voice, performance
• Isabel Rößler: double bass
• Devin Gray – drums

In addition, on Saturday 14 November 2026, also at the exploratorium berlin, an improvisation workshop will take place led by Ulrike Schwarz and featuring Ligia Liberatori and Ulrike Almut Sandig.

Participants will then take to the stage alongside the musicians during the concert.

Further information

• Admission to the public concerts on Sunday costs 6 euros and must be paid in cash at the venue.
• Children taking part in the workshop will be granted free admission to the concert.
• The workshop is free of charge.
• Registrations to attend a concert, as well as expressions of interest in a workshop in advance, should be sent to this address: info@zentrum-under-construction.berlin
• Places are limited, so early registration is recommended.