Editor

Kerstin Petersen, Hamburg (Germany) is an internationally interpreter of new organ music.
She brings the traditional wind instrument into contact with contemporary themes and opens up unimagined horizons for the "queen of instruments".
After studying church music, early music and Jewish studies, Kerstin Petersen completed postgraduate studies in concert organ with J. M. Michel in Heidelberg. Scholarships and grants from the German Music Council, Musikfonds, Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, Dorit & Alexander Otto Stiftung, andere Zeiten e.V., Mathias-Tantau-Stiftung, Gerhard Trede-Stiftung, among others, have enabled the freelance artist to take unusual paths and make a name for herself with rare repertoire.
Together with composers and performers from all over the world, Kerstin Petersen regularly initiates new works and brings them to life on the organ stage. Recently, for example, she played world premieres of Fabian Otten: Sin inspired by Forugh Farrokhzad at the WinterMUSiK 2024 festival in Hamburg, Alyssa Aska: gefesselte after Barlach Die gefesselte Hexe (1926) at the blurred edges Festival and altonale 2024, Rikako Watanabe: Mikoshi 2023 in Dresden's Frauenkirche, Ruth Wiesenfeld: Auf der Suche nach Ellinor Jahnn at the invitation of the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg, Daniel Smutny: °still - together we are making a difference, Lina Tonia: The Sound of Ganymede at BRANDNEU, European festival for the latest organ music in St. Martin Kassel, and many more.
Kerstin Petersen has received further engagements from Hamburg's main churches St Michaelis and St Nikolai, Laeiszhalle, TONALi, forumJETZTmusik, Hochschule für Musik and Theatre Hamburg, Kieler Schloß, Stralsunder Orgeltage, Symposium Vision Kirchenmusik / Orgelakademie Stade, Festival Orfeo / Organeum, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche Berlin, Mercatorhalle Duisburg, Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz, Ulmer Münster, the international concert podium Orgelpark Amsterdam NL and the international organ academy Göteborg SE.
Kerstin Petersen is also active as an editor of new organ works and as an idea generator and artistic director of innovative concert projects. For the Organ Year 2021, she realised Nur einmal glücklich sein - organ music by female composers in collaboration with Orgelstadt Hamburg at various organ venues in Hamburg. Her time-critical concert project Der Hölle Nachklang together with Frauke Aulbert (soprano) is dedicated to Jewish and ostracised composers as well as the crimes of the Wehrmacht in Greece. Das Signal - starke Musik von Frauen in constellation with organ, percussion, gong und speaker will be presented in the 2024 season at Orgelpark Amsterdam NL, among other venues.
The performer has an intensive collaboration with accordionist Eva Zöllner. They formed their duo A&O in 2009. Together with gong master Ada Namani, Kerstin Petersen founded the duo Organ meets Gong in 2013 and the duo Drums & Pipes with percussionist Lin Chen in 2022 - all three ensembles perform throughout Europe.
Following her CDs stille töne, heiter bis wolkig and organ meets gong, two recordings of new organ chamber music by European female composers are currently being released. Kerstin Petersen is a member of the jury for this year's composition competition as part of the Musik 21 Festival Niedersachsen.
As part of a stipend from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, she will be Artist in Residence at the GEDOK guest studio in Lübeck, Germany, from October 2024. www.kerstin-petersen.org
MEMBERSHIPS SWO Society of Women Organists • GEDOK Gemeinschaft der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfreundinnen/-freunde Hamburg e.V. • VAMH Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg e.V. • GdO Society of Friends of the Organ e.V. • DTKV Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband Landesverband Hamburg e.V. • Verband der Kirchenmusikerinnen und Kirchenmusiker in der Nordelbischen Ev.-Luth. Kirche • music women germany • Plan International Deutschland e.V. • Common Purpose Hamburg a.o.
COMMITMENT New Building of Woehl organ at St Paul's Church Fockbek / Schleswig-Holstein: conception, artistic planning and support (2003-2006), artistic leadership and management of the international concert series Orgel extra (2006-2009) • Foundation and management of the "Children's Organ" project with construction of Germany's first children's pedal in the Osterkirche / Bugenhagenschule Hamburg (2012-2018) • Artistic planning and support for the acquisition and revision of the Apollo Reed organ (1914) for the Hamburg Rathauspassage (2013-2018) and much more.
QUALIFICATIONS Creative Future Academy of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft (2023) - Resonanzlehre Thomas Lange - Visiting student of Jewish Studies Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg a.o. Rabbinical Theology: Prof. Aaron Agus, Hebrew: Rachel Daniel • Masterclasses Stade Organ Academy, Gothenburg International Organ Academy, Stuttgart Organ Academy, Thuringian Organ Summer • Musicians' Medicine and Music Physiology Heide Görtz, Alexander Technique Rachel Müller, Feldenkrais Sabine Boeller-Schleiff and Katrin Berger, Qi Gong Brita Moritz, Li Zhi-Chang, Carsten Fischer, Petra Noll and Karma Tsultim Namdak • Coach and Expert Pool of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft • Leadership Programme Matrix Common Purpose Hamburg a.o.

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