The Salzburg Easter Festival kicks off an eventful cultural calendar for Audi in 2010. The brand with the four rings is an exclusive sponsor for Europe’s most renowned festivals. As a responsible employer, the company supports regional cultural arts at its locations. The extensive program of support includes the areas of classical music, jazz, visual arts, theater and film.
Salzburg and Audi are linked by a highly intensive partnership due to the company’s sponsorship of two of the city’s world-renowned festivals – the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Salzburg Festival. “The Salzburg festivals represent a tremendous sense of tradition as well as a desire to shape the future – which is always combined with a determination to offer top performance. These characteristics are simply a perfect match for Audi,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
Audi has been the main sponsor of the Easter Festival since 2008. The partnership is one of a series of sponsorship-related partnerships with distinguished musical festivals in Europe. In addition to the Salzburg Festival, these include more than 20 years of sponsorship of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. The newest festival partnership brings the four rings to the “Grüner Hügel” in Bayreuth this year for the second time.
But Audi’s expertise in festivals extends beyond mere sponsorship. In Ingolstadt, the company itself organizes the Summer Concerts – the year 2010 will be the 21st time it has done so. The idea behind it is simple: as the biggest employer in the region, the carmaker also assumes a special social responsibility. “We don’t want to limit ourselves to just creating secure jobs. We also want to make our contribution to an attractive and diverse social environment at our locations,” said Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources at AUDI AG. This is why Audi began in 1990 to invite the stars of classical music, famous orchestras and internally renowned soloists to Ingolstadt. From July 9-31 this year, guests will include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Thomas Quasthoff and Michael Schade. Traditionally, the Salzburg Festival gives a guest performance for the finale – an honor they do not bestow to any other festival in the world.
Audi also shapes the cultural scene at its locations through numerous partnerships. For example, Audi blazed the trail for Ingolstadt to have its own orchestra when the Georgian Chamber Orchestra sought a new home 20 years ago, and found it in this city. Audi, which continues to be a reliable partner to the ensemble, congratulates the orchestra on its 20th anniversary during 2010 in the city on the Danube, and will celebrate the event with a concert during the week of the festival in June. The Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt will also play during the open air Summer Concerts and at the Audi Christmas Concerts in December in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.
Despite its origins in classical music, Audi has also long been dedicated to supporting the arts in other areas. “We’ve established an extensive jazz program. It’s a progressive, creative art form that depends on both the interaction and the individuality of the players,” said Jürgen Bachmann of Audi Cultural Events.
Audi will present its own jazz festival for the third time in September 2010 in Cologne. The 27th Ingolstadt Jazz Days will be held shortly thereafter – with Audi as the main sponsor. And for those who can’t wait until autumn, the jazz series in the Audi Forum Ingolstadt offers extraordinary concerts each month. The response to the series has been so great – more than 35,000 spectators have attended up to now – that the idea has now also been applied at the Audi Forum Neckarsulm.
The company added a new highlight in summer 2009 with a concert grand piano that was designed by the company’s own designers. The Audi Design grand piano was built by the Bösendorfer piano factory in Vienna. Because the typical Bösendorfer sound is highly prized among jazz pianists, the instrument is primarily played in concerts in the Audi Forums. The instrument has also caused quite an international sensation, however, and during 2010 will travel to China, among other locations.
As a founding member of the Ingolstadt Foundation for Concrete Art and Design, Audi supports the visual arts by making it possible to collect, catalog and exhibit the works of major artists and designers. Since it was founded in 2007, artists including Hermann Bartels, Hans Berchtenbreiter, Hartmut Böhm, Rolf Glasmeier, Edgar Gutbub, Dieter Hacker, Imre Kocsis, Camill Leberer, Christian Megert, Vera Molnar and Ludwig Wilding entrusted their collections to the foundation. In the spirit of “playing host to concrete art and design,” the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt will continue to display a selection of the works until April 8, 2010.
At the same time, a seven-meter-long revolving door sculpture designed by Christian Megert is gracing the piazza in front of the museum. The sculpture has an interesting back story: the Documenta artist created the sculpture in steel and mirrored glass with the help of trainees from AUDI AG – a very special training project in which the young people could combine their talent for handcrafting with the creative freedom of art.
The company’s flagship when it comes to young talent is the Audi Youth Choir Academy, a project choir with 70 young singers. Those who wish to join have to pass an audition, but the effort pays off: The Academy offers participants professional, individual instruction and studies a major work from choir literature with them. The choir has a lot of things planned for 2010. After an intensive rehearsal phase in May, they will record a CD and perform three concerts with the Bavarian State Orchestra under Kent Nagano. The conductor is enthusiastic: “The Academy is able to motivate young singers to get involved with classical music, offers them room to develop their talents and conveys the joy of working in music.”
The independent cinema in the Audi Forum Ingolstadt is considered a special gem when it comes to cinematic art. This exclusive movie theater offers a first-class program with selected European auteur films, including many premieres, films in their original version and children’s programs. Its success is impressive, and not just because of the annual 20,000 audience members it draws each year – with only 75 seats available in the theater. Industry professionals are also enthusiastic. The Audi independent cinema has already been honored numerous times for its high-quality program – most recently in September 2009, by the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, and in December 2009 by the Bavarian Minister of State.
Along with the regularly scheduled showings, in April 2010 the Audi independent cinema will again become a showplace on four out of five days for the 20min|max short-film festival, which is the result of a partnership with Theater Ingolstadt and the xhoch4 design agency. This gives young filmmakers a platform for their short films in all genres, which may run to a maximum of 20 minutes. Prizes are awarded in several categories at the end of the festival. As a sponsor since the founding of the festival in 2006, Audi donates one of these prizes.
Audi’s partnership with Theater Ingolstadt has a long history. Since 1997, the two companies have been presenting solo evenings with famous German actors in their “Solo für Stars” (Solo for Stars) series. The series, which has already featured performances by German acting greats such as Bruno Ganz, Martina Gedeck and Ulrich Mühe, will continue in late March 2010 with Ben Becker.
In the current season, the theater is presenting another highly exclusive theatrical experience in “Driving Orpheus,” which blurs the boundaries between illusion and reality. It is being played in a long-wheelbase Audi A8 in various settings in Ingolstadt. As passengers in the rear seat of the car, the audience watches over the course of 90 minutes as a passionate affair develops between the driver and an unknown woman.
One important goal for Audi in its involvement in the arts is to be able to offer employees a broad range of cultural treats. This applies above all to the oldest project, the Audi Philharmonic Wind Orchestra. Performances during 2010 by the employee-staffed orchestra, which was founded in 1962, will include the Summer Concerts and a benefit concert in November to help needy people in the Ingolstadt region.
Source: http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en/company/news/company.detail.2010~03~audi___reliable_partner.html