The end of the academic year always seems to gather momentum. Suddenly, projects that have been months in the making all converge into a few remarkable weeks. This past week has been one of those.

At HfMT Köln’s Adventure #16, I had the pleasure of taking part in the premiere of Christian Brandenberger’s Lieblingslied. For me, it was also a rather personal milestone: the first time I had played the contrabass trombone in around fifteen years. Thankfully, it felt surprisingly natural to return to the instrument. More importantly, Lieblingslied proved to be an intensely moving work—subtle, powerful, and beautifully crafted. As always, sharing the stage with the incredible musicians of Ensemble Musikfabrik was both inspiring and a reminder of the extraordinary level of musicianship they bring to every project.

A few days later I found myself at the Nadar Summer Academy, where, amongst many fascinating workshops and performances, I coached participants in John Cage’s Branches. Every time I return to this piece I become more convinced of its continuing relevance—perhaps even more so now, as the boundary between what we consider “natural” and what we have imposed upon it becomes increasingly blurred. Cage invites us to make music not about nature, but with it. This time, however, I asked participants not only to work with branches and leaves, but also to collect non-organic materials—plastic bottles, caps, wrappers—objects that have become just as present in our environment as any plant or tree. Once you’ve accepted that our actions inevitably shape the world around us, listening carefully to these materials becomes something more unsettling. The sounds of plastic and debris are no longer incidental; they are part of the landscape we have created. What emerges is not only an exploration of timbre, but a confrontation with the traces we leave behind. Watching participants navigate this expanded sonic field—and hearing the resulting performance—was a reminder that Cage’s work continues to resonate, perhaps now with an added layer of urgency that is difficult to ignore.

Tonight marks another milestone: the premiere of Udo Zimmermann’s Die Weiße Rose with our students in Aachen. It has been an immensely rewarding process to accompany this production from its first rehearsals to opening night. The dedication of everyone involved—musicians, singers, production team, and staff—has been remarkable. I wish them all a wonderful premiere and an unforgettable performance.

The week concludes on Sunday at Museum Insel Hombroich with Prof. Ulrich Flad’s incredilble HfMT Köln trombone class . We will revisit two works that we first explored together back in January: Georg Friedrich Haas’ astonishingly detailed micro- (perhaps even nano-) tonal writing and Folke Rabe’s wonderfully untamed Bolos. I will also have the chance to perform George Lewis’ Oraculum once again—a piece that continues to challenge and surprise me every time I return to it.

It feels like a fitting way to bring this season almost to a close. Almost, because there is still one more concert to come on 1 August in Antwerp before it’s time to take a breath and begin looking towards the many exciting projects waiting next season.

More about that very soon.