We are pleased to support a special campaign by Annegret Mayer-Lindenberg. After the beginning of the aggressive Russian war on Ukraine, which violates international law, the violist and violin maker has been writing a miniature composition every day since March 18, some only a few seconds long, for various instruments. She writes these by hand on old music paper, each one unique.
She sells the miniatures for a donation of €25 or more. All proceeds go completely to the donation organizations UNICEF and Aktion Deutschland hilft to projects in favor of the Ukrainian people. You can find the link in the right sidebar of this article.
Annegret tells us in a short interview how the campaign came about.
How did you get the idea to compose Miniature Pieces for Ukraine?
The idea came up in March during a stay at Künstlerhaus Lukas in Ahrenshoop.
The war in Ukraine had just begun, and the question of what we could do to support the people from and in Ukraine was on the minds of all of us artists there. It was also important for me to create a longer-term project that would keep the war continuously present, tie in with my musical work, and at the same time appeal to people who are not actively making music themselves.
How are the compositions created?
The compositions arise in different ways: sometimes from a concrete musical and/or structural idea, sometimes from a preoccupation with a particular instrument, sometimes very spontaneously, sometimes developed conceptually. Often they have a relation to what I am otherwise musically occupied with. What they all have in common is that they are under a minute long and for a solo instrument.
How can the independent music scenes in Cologne show solidarity with Ukrainian artists?
There are many very different ways to do this. I think everyone can find a suitable way and form of support to draw attention to the situation of Ukrainian artists, to support them and to show solidarity.
Annegret Mayer-Lindenberg is very active in the field of chamber and ensemble music, her special interest is contemporary music and collaboration with composers. She has been a member of Ensemble Garage since September 2010. She also regularly collaborates with various other ensembles, such as Ensemble oh ton. She plays both viola and viola d’amore. With Benjamin Grießhaber she runs the workshop Grießhaber & Mayer-Lindenberg Geigenbau.