Description
NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS - 19 years of ensemble work
In 2016, “Wo Du nicht bist,” with compositions by Franz Schubert, marked their first step into the world of music-theatre. Performances followed based on the works of Händel, Bach and Rossini. In 2012, the premiere of “Mahlermania” was performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin to coincide with the launch of their new stage, the “Tischlerei.” The premiere of “Their Days are Numbered,” an interpretation of Elias Canetti’s drama, was performed in collaboration with composer, Detlev Glanert, at the Residenztheater for the Munich Biennale for Contemporary Music Theatre in May 2014. “The hour we knew too much of each other” brought the ensemble back to its roots and premiered as an independent production at the Kampnagel theatre in Hamburg in May 2015. In April 2016, Nicola Hümpel, together with Nico and the Navigators, staged Philippe Boesman’s “Reigen” at the Oper Stuttgart. The piece belongs to the “almost unrivaled series of premiere’s” that made Stuttgart to the “Opera-house of the Year” 2015/16. With their newest production „SILENT SONGS into the wild“ the company explores Franz Schubert‘s music in the here and now. The staged concert was premiered in February 2017 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
Nico and the Navigators’ productions are to be found on stages worldwide ranging from festivals, theatres and opera houses. The over 200 guest performances include amongst others, the Uijeongbu International Music Theatre Festival in Korea, the Opéra Comique, the Opéra Dijon, the Opéra de Nîmes, the Opéra de Rouen, the Kunstfest Weimar, the Wiener Festwochen, the Bregenzer Festspiele, as well as the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg.
The ensemble has been funded by the Berlin government since 2007 and they have enjoyed institutional support since 2014. In 2001, they were awarded the George Tabori Prize, Germany’s principal award for independent theatre companies. In September 2016, Nicola Hümpel was awarded the Konrad Wolf Prize by Berlin’s Academy of Arts.
