Leuphana Camerata
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The Leuphana Camerata is the Chamber Orchestra of the Leuphana University Lüneburg. We have been under the direction of Rebecca Lang since 2019. The line-up of our orchestra changes from semester to semester and we have experienced great development over the past year. This is partly due to the audition for admission to the orchestra, but also very clearly due to our scholarship this year, which enables the majority of us to take private lessons once a week.
With our current line-up of eight violins, one viola, three cellos, two flutes, two clarinets, one bass clarinet and a small rhythm section, we have worked on the first movement of Mozart's Symphony in A Major (No. 29), the Overture in C by Fanny Hensel and a Persian folk melody this semester. Although we tend to specialise in classical music, our varied programme nevertheless spans several eras and genres. Our ensemble is very much open to tackling new and exciting pieces. In addition to focussing on good preparation, our greatest concern is developing a cohesive ensemble and, first and foremost, having fun making music.
Alongside the Orchestra, the Big Band, the Choir and the Chamber Choir, we are embedded in the newly established Centre for Music Performance of Leuphana University Lüneburg. The team of our Director of Music, Rebecca Lang, and her ensemble-specific student assistants not only stand for aesthetic, successful and musically "beautiful" performances: the selection of pieces with particular messages is extremely important to us. Our repertoire therefore includes pieces with a political or feminist background. We really like the concept of the European Student Orchestra Festival and are really looking forward to being part of it, meeting lots of new people, gaining experience and trying out new things.
Rebecca Lang
Rebecca Lang is undoubtedly one of the most versatile and interesting artists of her generation.
Born in Wodonga [Victoria] and raised in Melbourne (Australia), Rebecca Lang studied piano at the Victorian College of the Arts with Mack Jost AM, Caroline Almonte and Dr. Elyane Laussade [Bachelor of Music & Concert Examination]. She then worked as a pianist and conductor in Melbourne for several years. In 2006 she moved to Germany and studied orchestral conducting with Prof. Christof Prick at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (Diploma). At the same time, she worked as musical director for Seelive Tivoli.
In 2011, she conducted Benjamin Britten's THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA at the Hamburg State Opera with great success. She also brought Igor Stravinsky's FEUERVOGEL to the stage with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, Rebecca was engaged by the Schleswig-Holsteinische Landestheater Flensburg. There she conducted Andrew Lloyd Webber's EVITA and the classic MY FAIR LADY (directed by Peter Grisebach). At Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, she also conducted EUGENE ONEGIN by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [director: Cameron Menzies]. In 2012 she moved to Berlin and became Deputy Musical Director of the Udo Lindenberg musical HINTERM HORIZONT. Guest engagements have taken her back to Australia: first again to Her Majesty's with CENDRILLON by Jules Massenet (2013) and then to the podium of the Melbourne summer night spectacle Opera In The Park as conductor of Giuseppe Verdi's IL TROVATORE [2014, directed by Cameron Menzies]. Both works were also specially arranged by Rebecc Lang for these performances.
In 2014 Rebecca Lang became Head of Music and Kapellmeister at Theater Hof, where she conducted Richard O'Brien's ROCKY HORROR SHOW [directed by Reinhardt Friese] and PARISER LEBEN by Jacques Offenbach. 2015 - 2017 Rebecca Lang was Musical Director and Principal Conductor of Michael Reed's production of Udo Jürgen's musical ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK at Stage Entertainment at Theater des Westens Berlin, Deutsches Theater München, Raimund Theater Wien, Landestheater Linz, Musical Theater Bremen, Festpielhaus Bregenz, Colosseum Theater Essen. With her collaborative instrumental ensemble, the KREUZBERGER KAMERATA, Rebecca Lang organized and conducted the world premiere of Cyrus Meurant's HERAKLEITOS at the Laeiszhalle. Rebecca Lang has been University Music Director at Leuphana University, Lüneburg, since October 2018. Since then she has curated several concerts and events with a focus on female, queer, black, non-binary and contemporary composers. In September 2021, Ms. Lang conducted Cameron Menzies' new production of Giacomo Puccini's LA BOHÈME for NI Opera in Belfast to international acclaim. In 2022, Rebecca Lang produced and performed in Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS, with German musical stars ZODWA SELELE and SIMON PATERNO. Shortly after, she made her West Australian Opera debut with Giacomo Puccini's TOSCA in July 2022. Rebecca Lang's extensive and interdisciplinary repertoire can be regularly experienced in her concerts at Leuphana University Lüneburg.
Lüneburg
Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about 50 km southeast of another Hanseatic city, Hamburg, and belongs to that city's wider metropolitan region.
The capital of the district which bears its name, it is home to roughly 77,000 people. Lüneburg's urban area, which includes the surrounding communities of Adendorf, Bardowick, Barendorf and Reppenstedt, has a population of around 103,000. Lüneburg has been allowed to use the title "Hansestadt" (Hanseatic Town) in its name since 2007, in recognition of its membership in the former Hanseatic League. Lüneburg is also home to Leuphana University.