For Stefan Kuchel, lecturer for saxophone, improvisation and ensemble playing at the Lübeck University of Music (MHL) and passionate jazz musician, the joy of experimentation is a basis for existence. In his teaching work, he repeatedly experiences that, especially for orchestra musicians, musical experimentation is primarily about reducing fears of imperfection. As a lecturer, he finds it important not to set goals in such moments, to keep the process open-ended and to ensure that the childlike joy of trying things out can be rediscovered. In this sense, every lesson is an experiment for him. At the MHL he particularly appreciates the openness to new, experimental music-making concepts such as: B. “WAM!”, the workshop for current music.
Roman Spendler, research associate at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Business Development at the University of Lübeck, looks back on twenty years of self-employment in sales and management consulting. He knows that without courage and willingness to experiment, companies cannot do good marketing. This requires a completely different mindset than at a university, where professors often have a high need for security and are not necessarily role models when it comes to experimenting. Nevertheless, a university can also function as a safe space in which people leave their comfort zone, enter new territory and the joy of experimentation can be specifically encouraged. He explains in the podcast what role the popular colorful terminal blocks from a well-known manufacturer play in this.
Jürgen Tchorz teaches in the Department of Applied Natural Sciences in the Hearing Acoustics course and is already inspiring young people to experiment at the Lübeck University of Technology (TH): as head of the TH’s JuniorCampus. Experiments there awaken children’s interest in the so-called MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) and promote their spirit of research. All it takes is a little curiosity and fun experimenting. Then a lot of unexpected things can happen, one or two “oops” – and sometimes even monsters made of mud. Tchorz also has the overall social dimension in mind: he sees the joy of experimentation as an essential prerequisite for meeting the challenges of the coming decades.
Moderated by Johanna Helbing, communications officer at the Lübeck University of Technology, the Lübeck hoch 3 podcast highlights topics in research, culture and society once a month. Representatives of the three universities involved in the project (Lübeck University of Music, Lübeck University of Technology and Lübeck University) and, depending on the topic, an expert as a guest are invited.
The podcast is available on the website www.denkenspruenge-podcast.de and all common platforms available for access. The episodes go online every Wednesday in the middle of the month.
Knowledge transfer, mutual dialogue and new ideas – that’s what Lübeck stands for. The initiators and representatives of the three universities see their own podcast as an important component in stimulating discourse with society about science and culture.
The discussion in episode 34:
Stefan Kuchel has been a lecturer in saxophone, improvisation and ensemble playing at the Lübeck University of Music for over 15 years. It’s hard to believe that he originally studied mathematics and physics – and only started taking saxophone lessons at the age of 26. Since then he has worked as a bandleader and solo artist at openings, readings and concerts. As a composer and studio musician, he worked with larger ensembles such as the NDR Bigband, the Jazzhaus Bigband Hamburg, the Lübeck Theater and the Lüneburg Orchestra. He played at various jazz festivals and won the Schleswig-Holstein Jazz Podium Prize several times. Whether with MAX AND FRIENDS, the Baltic Jazz Trio or the German Folk Songs duo – creativity and joy of playing are his main focus.
Roman Spendler is a founding consultant at the Gründercube and project manager of the KI-Med Gründerlab. In addition to his project activities, he offers workshops in which creative ideas are sought using LEGO® figures. These offers are called LEGO® Serious Play Workshops. The participants become active designers of their environment and learn to take on new perspectives and develop unusual solutions.
Jürgen Tchorz studied physics in Oldenburg and Galway. After completing his doctorate in the field of speech signal processing, he worked in the hearing aid industry for several years. Since 2005 he has been a professor of hearing acoustics at the Lübeck University of Technology. In teaching, he particularly represents the fields of technical acoustics and psychoacoustics. As head of the JuniorCampus at TH Lübeck, young people’s enthusiasm for science and technology is particularly important to him.
The moderator Johanna Helbing has been a communications officer at the Lübeck University of Technology since the end of 2021. She studied European media culture at the Bauhaus University in Weimar and Lyon and has accompanied the podcast in the editorial team since its birth in May 2021.