From March 27 to April 4, 2025, we will explore the winding paths of listening.
How do we listen to each other in a world of constant broadcasting? What happens when we truly listen? And how does listening change in music, in exile, or in the digital space? Together with the German American Institute Heidelberg (DAI Heidelberg), we invite you to a festival that celebrates the art of listening.
Our hosts are the legendary interviewer Paul Holdengräber and Samantha Rose Hill, an expert on Hannah Arendt. Over the past year, they have explored the concept of listening from their respective perspectives and will now share their insights for the first time. They will be joined in conversation by composer Cathy Milliken, journalist and activist Yasmin Merei, filmmaker Xu Xing, and other guests.
The festival Ways of Listening takes place as part of the anniversary program for 30 years of Villa Aurora and the 150th birthday of Thomas Mann.
About our Hosts
Paul Holdengräber is an intellectual and the founding director of Onassis Los Angeles. Previously, he led an influential cultural series at the New York Public Library, where he conducted conversations with renowned figures such as Patti Smith and Werner Herzog.
Samantha Rose Hill is the author of Hannah Arendt (2021) and Hannah Arendt’s Poems (2023). She teaches at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research and the University of the Underground. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Aeon, and LitHub, among others.
Program
March 27 | 8 p.m. (CET)
What remains. Hannah Arendt as a poet
With Samantha Rose Hill
To the event page
March 28 | 8 p.m. (CET)
A Celebration of Listening. The Art of Listening in Music
With Cathy Milliken
To the event page
March 29 | 6 p.m. (CET)
WHY FRETS? Requiem for the Electric Guitar & WHY FRETS?
Performance and Lecture with Marko Ciciliani
To the event page
March 29 | 8 p.m. (CET)
The Art of Listening: A Conversation Across Professions
With Josh Cohen
To the event page
March 30 | 11 a.m. (CET)
Listening to Exile: Voices between Worlds
With Yasmin Merei and Xu Xing
To the event page
April 4 | 6 p.m. (CET)
The Art of Listening - and Dialog in Politics and Society
With Bernhard Pörksen and Winfried Kretschmann
To the event page
Attendance Details
Venue: DAI Heidelberg, Sofienstraße 12, 69115 Heidelberg
Information regarding advance bookings can be found on the respective event page.
The events from March 27th to 30th will take place in English. The conversation on April 4th between Winfried Kretschmann and Bernhard Pörksen will be in German.
An event series in cooperation with the German American Institute Heidelberg.
