Ep.26 The Sound of Development: Ursel Schlicht Conducts a World-Music Sonic Exchange

All Power To The Developing!

Can music be developmental? Probably not. However, the creation of music—particularly when done in ensemble through improvisation—most certainly can. Ursel Schlicht, an innovative music maker based in Kassel, Germany, shares her approaches to creating music across political and cultural borders. Her “Sonic Exchange” program is an international crucible of musical experimentation that for years has brought together strangers, including refugees fleeing the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, to create new music together. “It requires listening, appreciating what the other is bringing to the process, and discovering together what new is being created,” says Schlicht. “In the weirdest, most difficult circumstances we can be together in music and we can find joy in its creation.” Hosted by Janet Wootten.

Website: https://www.urselschlicht.com

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Welcome to All Power to the Developing, a podcast of the East Side Institute. The Institute is a center for social change efforts that reinitiate human and community development. We support, connect and partner with committed and creative activists, scholars, artists, helpers and healers all over the world. In 2003, Institute co-founders Lois Holzman and the late Fred Newman had a paper published with the title “All Power to the Developing.” This phrase captures how vital it is for all people—no matter their age, circumstance, status, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation—to grow, develop and transform emotionally, socially and intellectually if we are to have a shot at creating something positive out of the intense crises we’re all experiencing. We hope that this podcast series will show you that, far more than a slogan, “all power to the developing” is a loving activity, a pulsing heart in an all too cruel world.

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The East Side Institute is a hub for a diverse and emergent community of social activists, thought leaders, and practitioners who are reigniting our human abilities to imagine, create and perform beyond ourselves—to develop. Each episode will introduce you to another performance activist or play revolutionary from around the world. To learn more about the East Side Institute you can go to https://eastsideinstitute.org/ Made possible in part by Growing Social Therapeutics: The Baylah Wolfe Fund.