VERSCHOLLENE GESÄNGE
Oper in one act by Mehran Sherkat Naderi
08 & 09 NOVEMBER 2025
ZK/U BerlinSiemensstr. 27, 10551, Berlin, Germany
Are we humans all the same? No, but we are equal. But are we also treated as equals? And who determines this value? Ourselves, all together, or “the others”?
When our memories of the past become images and these are staged in the present, we should become aware, at the latest in the future, of where we humans are now – and where we want to be: what are humans actually striving for? With all our intelligence, our cultural influences and the ideals we uphold, what distinguishes us from the wild? To what extent are we approaching it – or moving away from it? On what foundations and values is our social coexistence based?
The play VERSCHOLLENE GESÄNGE (Lost Songs), written and composed by Mehran Sherkat Naderi, will be staged at the ZK/U on 8 and 9 November 2025. The play centres on the life of Sara, a young woman who sets the images of her memories to music, offering a profound insight into how we treat other people and their dignity. Sara encounters several characters again, whom she brings to life through her memories.
The project is a collaboration with the Leo Kestenberg Chamber Orchestra of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Music School under the direction of Alexander Ramm, the Schöneberg Choir Workshop under the direction of Thorsten Gietz, and other musicians from the independent scene in Berlin and other cities.
The opera Verschollene Gesänge (Lost Songs) will be performed in collaboration with the chamber orchestra of the Leo Kestenberg Music School Tempelhof-Schöneberg, conducted by Alexander Ramm, the Schöneberg Choir Workshop under the direction of Thorsten Gietz, and other musicians from the independent scene in Berlin and other cities on November 8 and 9, 2025, at the ZK/U Berlin – Center for Art and Urbanistics.
The piece is funded as part of the Berlin KiA program by the District Office of Berlin-Mitte, Department of Art, Culture, and History.
