»Shindig #6« with current Solitude Fellows, in cooperation with PODIUM Esslingen and Akademie Schloss Solitude

For the sixth edition on March 8, 2026, shindig, a series of events curated by Solitude curatorial fellow Lukas Beyer in cooperation with PODIUM Esslingen and the Akademie Schloss Solitude, invites you to the Project Space Römerstraße of the Akademie.

The focus of the evening will be on the string quartet – a musical form with a rich history that will be examined and explored from two perspectives. The Rothko String Quartet, consisting of Marc Kopitzki (viola), Jakob Nierenz (cello), Joosten Ellée (violin), and Laura Lunansky (violin), approaches this form both enthusiastically and critically: In the first set, they present works from underrepresented composers such as Eleanor Alberga, Brittany Green, Nastasia Khrustcheva, and Mica Levi, juxtaposed with pieces from the traditional historical canon, under the title Late String Quartets.

The second set is dedicated to works by Yuri Umemoto (born 2003 in Japan), currently a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in cooperation with PODIUM Esslingen. He is currently composing an orchestral piece for the closing concert of the PODIUM Festival in Esslingen on May 9. Umemoto’s compositions bridge the concert halls of contemporary classical music, niche internet scenes, and the temporality of social media. The incorporation of anime aesthetics in the voice recordings, combined with minimalist compositional forms, creates a haunting, existential atmosphere – both meditative and unsettling.