It seems that, ever since taking office, Donald Trump and his Republican administration have been continuously berating Europe. But now, a different kind of US representative is visiting Germany: the Orchestra NOW (TŌN), a graduate program of Bard College, in the state of New York. Directed by Leon Botstein, the ensemble is presenting works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Max Bruch. It is also delivering a clear message: culture and music are the true pillars of trans-Atlantic relations.
A historically important location
The trip to Germany is the orchestra’s first overseas trip, and the high point is a concert on May 8 commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The performance, entitled “Grant Us Peace,” is taking place in the Nuremberg Congress Hall — part of a monumental complex built by the Nazis as the site of their party rallies.
The concert’s location holds a lot of meaning for the orchestra’s founder and conductor: Leon Botstein was born in 1946 in Zurich, Switzerland, to Jewish-Polish parents.
“It reminds us that it is possible to reckon with the past without erasing it,” he told DW. TŌN‘s performance in this place sends a strong message, Botstein explained, especially because the orchestra is performing works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, whose music was banned by the Nazis.
Botstein believes that it has rarely ever been more important to remember that the Nazis led “a morally and ethically criminal regime,” even as they “were a legal German government at the time the Congress Hall was built.” One must never stop warning “how easy it is to make radical evil acceptable and legal,” he added.
Bard: A liberal arts university with a reputation for free thinking
Botstein has been president of Bard College since 1975, and is one of the institution’s driving figures — as a scholar, professor, festival director, and as the founder of TŌN.
Bard College, a liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, a roughly two-hour drive north of New York City, was founded in 1860 by John and Margaret Bard. Since its earliest days, it has had a reputation as a center of liberal thinking. Many musicians, writers, artists, politicians and journalists haev studied here.
Hannah Arendt was one of many European intellectuals who was a professor at Bard. She is buried in the college cemetery. Famed US-Canadian architect Frank Gehry admired the school and designed its new concert hall, which serves as the home of TŌN.
The young musicians who perform in TŌN are students in a three-year training program at Bard College. Most have already finished their conservatory training, and some even have positions in leading US orchestras. At Bard, they receive wide-ranging education that covers not only musical subjects, but also disciplines like philosophy and social sciences. The Germany trip is another component of their training.
‘A dangerous time for all of us’
Unlike other privately run universities like Harvard and Columbia, Bard College has yet to be directly impacted by the whims of the Republican administration in Washington. Botstein is nonetheless alarmed.
“It’s a dangerous time for all of us, for democracy around the world, and at home, because this government is against science and truth,” he said. ” If you can no longer agree on what is a lie and what is the truth, then you’ll eventually find yourself in a situation where you can’t talk to each other anymore.”
Botstein believes the Trump administration is acting increasingly autocratic and endangering the separation of powers — a foundational principle of democracy. “Misusing power leads to fear, and fear leads to self-censorship,” Botstein said. “People start to limit their own freedom.”
Democracy: an ongoing project
According to Botstein, American intellectual elites — himself included — bear at least partial responsibility for current developments. “We were too lazy, somehow, to truly recognize the danger and really start a conversation with our fellow citizens,” he said, adding that this must now happen.
Botstein sees Europe, and particularly Germany, as an important ally in the fight for global democracy: “Germany has a lot of resources and is a central figure in things like the fight for democracy and freedom in Ukraine and resistance against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan.”
But it’s the fight for the hearts and minds of one’s own citizens that will prove decisive. “You have to understand that authoritarian rulers are always attractive for some reason. In contrast, democracy is difficult. Freedom requires constant work.”
And music plays a key role in this work, according to Botstein. Works by Beethoven, Bach, Bruckner or Mendelssohn are not entertainment, he explains, but “instruction manuals for free thinking.”
This article has been translated from German.
