Imagination in prison
Students bring prisoners' texts to life
Students at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar have set texts and poems written by inmates at Hohenleuben Prison to music. The result can be heard on Wednesday, January 28, at 6 p.m. at the final concert in the Alte Papierfabrik in Greiz and via livestream (twitch.tv/altepapierfabrikgreiz). The collaboration is organized by the association YEHUDI MENUHIN Live Music Now. The musicians receive a scholarship for their performances.
Over a period of nine months, the current scholarship holders Felix Stöppler (vocals), Victoria Ohnimus (cello), Leonard Friese (accordion), and Ingmar Rosenthal (accordion) held regular workshops with 18 male inmates at Hohenleuben Prison under the title “Kopfkino trifft auf Musik” (Mind Movies Meets Music). In preparation for these meetings, the prisoners wrote their own texts in which they put their emotions and thoughts down on paper. The young musicians set these texts to music under the direction of Adelheid Wiegering.
Scholarship recipient Leonard Friese describes his project experiences as follows: "The point was that we wanted to work together. Work on the texts written by the offenders. These are texts that describe their situation: life in prison, but also their lives before; their arrest, their anger and despair; the view from the prison walls back home, to their parents, family, and children; and also to the people they worked with, both in good and criminal contexts. Our musicians were able to fulfill almost all of their wishes in terms of the type of musical setting and singing."
Talented young musicians can apply to Live Music Now. At audition dates, they are selected by a jury consisting of university professors according to strict criteria and accepted into the Live Music Now program. The current project was funded by the Beisheim Foundation.
[January 24, 2026]