Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms are only a few of the countless composers and musicians that Germany has produced over the centuries.

Now, the Morgantown community and West Virginia University will have the chance to hear a renowned music and theater director and producer from Germany speak about sponsoring the arts and arts education in modern Germany.

Michael Sturm will speak on Thursday (March 3) at 1 p.m. in the Rhododendron Room of the Mountainlair. His discussion will center around the state of the arts in modern Germany, government support of the arts and opportunities available for national and international artists. His talk will also cover the history of arts sponsorship in Germany, from cultural institutions sponsored by the nobility before 1870 to the current system of government sponsorship.

Sturm pursued a degree in music and theater stage direction at the University for Music and Theatre in his native Hamburg, where he studied under G�tz Friedrich, a famous German stage director. He founded his own company, Ensemble Sturm und Klang, which stages music and theatrical performances. He has directed operas in Hamburg, Prague, Luxembourg and Vienna and recently opened “Lohengrin” at the State Theater in Regensburg to much critical acclaim.

For more information, contact Deborah Janson, associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, at (304) 293-5121 ext: 5507 or Deborah.Janson@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

aw/2/11/11

CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Marketing and Communications Coordinator
304-293-7405, ext. 5251, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

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