The Detect Classic Festival (DCF) is a unique celebration that brings together classical music and contemporary electronic sounds in a harmonious blend. This blend continues to define the festival, attracting a diverse audience of music lovers from various backgrounds. Today we’ll be talking to people behind the scenes and the artists to learn more about what makes this such a unique and special event.

Reasons to go:

One of the unique aspects of DCF is its location at Schloss Bröllin. This idyllic setting in the small neighborhood of Fahrenwalde offers a serene backdrop for the festival. The area is undeveloped for tourism, allowing festival-goers to immerse themselves in nature and the local community.

Each year, the thematic focus of DCF is carefully selected to create intimate concert experiences. This year's theme centers around the human voice, an element that embodies the unity and diversity of the festival. Recognizing the importance of vocal performances, the organizers have included the Liedstadt Choir Festival and the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin in the lineup. These collaborations aim to create a closer connection between artists and festival guests, with singers often mingling with attendees.

A key aspect of DCF is its ability to balance classical music performances with electronic acts. While there are no strict rules, there are certain requirements to ensure this balance is maintained. The festival organizers have adjusted the booking budget layout to include a diverse range of performances. They also employ a "patriarchy detector" to monitor and balance gender representation in the lineup, promoting equality and diversity.

The overarching vision guiding this year's festival is to refine the experience by shifting focus slightly towards more classical music. This approach aims to depict a wider range of musical "temperatures and flavors," offering festival-goers an even richer experience. Last year's success in organizing a serious music festival without major headliners has paved the way for this refined focus, emphasizing the depth and quality of the performances over big names. Now let’s hear from the artists:

L TWILLS

At the Detect Classic Festival, I will present a one-hour sequence from my multimedia opera project [After her Destruction], which combines electro-acoustic sounds and expressive vocals to create dense avant-pop compositions. This project, exploring memory and sound through a biographical lens, is currently on view as an audio-visual installation at Kunsthaus Hamburg and was released as a 12-inch double album on February 16, 2024. My work blends multimedia art, performance, and music, focusing on the relationship between perception, body, and technology, and examining the construction of normativity in capitalist societies and its effects on mental health.

Kollektiv Eigenklang

This audio-visual journey blurs the lines between audience and participant, inviting everyone to actively engage in creating captivating soundscapes using wireless headphones connected to a central binaural microphone. Participants can explore loops, effects, samples, and synthesizers, creating a dynamic, ever-changing sound environment. Founded in late 2017, Kollektiv Eigenklang focuses on interactive artistic experiences through visual installations, inclusive arts education, and 360° audio and video productions. Their philosophy centers on interaction and improvisation, making each project a collaborative and exploratory adventure.

AFAR:

We have been performing at Detect Classic Festival for quite some years now, and we always try to do something different. This year, we’ve created a very unusual setup. On the ambient floor, we’ll be setting up three turntables, a synthesizer and a loop machine. It’s based on the 1964 recordings for the "BBC radiophonic radio workshop" by Delia Derbyshires, who is a true pioneer of electronic music. We’ll be creating a psychedelic dream journey on vinyl that takes us through five images: running away, falling, landscape, underwater and color. A program of sounds and voices will try to recreate this dream-like experience.

Festival Photos: Sophia Hegewald