1:1 CONCERTS at the HANDS-ON Festival
12. June 2026
#cultural and creative industry
On 12 and 13 June 2026, 1:1 CONCERTS will be part of the HANDS-ON Festival at the Nachrichtenmeisterei Kassel. in Kassel. As curators of the Music Track, we are bringing our concert format to three venues at the festival and inviting visitors to enjoy highly personal musical encounters.
How did this come about? In 2021, 1:1 CONCERTS was recognised by the German government as a Kultur- und Kreativpilot. Official funding for the initiative expired in 2024, but since then an active alumni network of around 280 former participants has formed, which is independently continuing the initiative’s vision. 1:1 CONCERTS is an active part of this network.
Nachrichtenmeisterei Kassel is organising the HANDS-ON Festival in cooperation with the Network of Cultural and Creative Pilots Germany and with us. The aim is to highlight the diversity and innovative strength of the cultural and creative industries in Hesse and to initiate new collaborations and exchange processes between national creative pilots and local stakeholders.
The festival sees itself as a space for exchange, collaboration, new ideas and cross-innovation. Active participation is at the forefront: participants play an active role in shaping the festival programme.
Geigerin Annette Walther im palace Düsseldorf
Hands-On Music
With the Music Track, 1:1 CONCERTS curates a section of the festival where sound, artistic practice and human connection come together. In three rooms at the Nachrichtenmeisterei, distinct settings are created for the 1:1 format.
In keeping with this, 1:1 CONCERTS also focuses on intimacy, resonance, improvisation and the shared experience of the moment. At a 1:1 concert, a musician and a listener come together for ten minutes of music. The piece, instrument and performer remain a secret until the moment of the encounter; the piece is chosen situationally in the moment. It is precisely this openness that makes the format so special: wordless eye contact gives rise to an intense, individual concert moment on equal terms. Within the festival, this creates a haven of calm amidst the lively HANDS-ON exchange programme.
Daniel Burmeister (Viola), Lübeck
Jonas Urbat and Nicolas Haumann will also be performing with their project SoundWERK. They develop formats in which sound, space and music merge into a creative process. At every moment of our lives, we are surrounded by countless sounds that we often perceive as noise. Yet it is up to us how we perceive these soundscapes.
SoundWERK im Ostseestaal
SoundWERK seeks out the sounds of a location – such as a workshop or factory, but also nature and urban soundscapes – to record them and produce music from them. They also capture the atmosphere of the place through moving images. Together, these elements can take the form of anything from a video production to a multimedia live event featuring a band or orchestra.
For their performance at the HANDS ON Festival in Kassel, they are planning 2–3 SoundWERK videos as a live version for electric guitar, tuba and drums. These will be embedded within a presentation on the philosophy, process and impact of transforming everyday sounds into artistic expression.
SoundWERK fängt die Klänge und Atmosphere einer Fabrik
Tickets
The festival brings together creative professionals from Kassel, Hesse and the wider national network, thereby fostering local exchange and collaboration. Visitors to the HANDS-ON Festival can experience 1:1 CONCERTS as part of a diverse programme ranging from workshops and talks to artistic and collaborative formats.
Advance ticket sales start in mid-April – subject to funding from the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Affairs. Tickets cost €190 plus 7% VAT. This includes festival admission to all events, 2 lunches, 1 dinner including non-alcoholic drinks. Alcoholic drinks are on a pay-as-you-go basis. Tickets can be booked on the Kultur- und Kreativpilot*innen Deutschland website.
A place for new resonance
With its unique atmosphere, the Nachrichtenmeisterei in Kassel provides the perfect setting for this format: over more than 20 years, it has established itself as an innovative hub for culture, creativity and artistic research – a place that is not only a cultural workspace but also a model project for addressing current technological and social developments in the cultural and creative sectors.
