Internationally Renowned Composer/Director Heiner Goebbels Opens The 2018 Fringe Festival

Opening weekend of the 2018 Fringe Festival will feature two productions from internationally acclaimed artist Heiner Goebbels, both supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

An iconoclastic German composer and director known for exploring the inherent theatricality of musical performances, Goebbels has won a string of international prizes for theater and music, including two Grammy nominations and the 2012 International Ibsen Award for bringing "new dimensions to the world of drama or theater." He has been presented internationally for over 30 years, with performances across Europe, Asia, and North America by the world's premiere orchestras. Surprisingly, the Fringe Festival performances this September mark the first time Goebbel's work has been seen or heard in Philadelphia.

"Both Stifters Dinge and Songs of Wars I Have Seen are emblematic of Goebbels penchant to avoid didacticism in favor of creating a meditative, theatrical space for viewers to reflect and find their own meaning," says Nick Stuccio, President & Producing Director of FringeArts.

Stifters Dinge, a large-scale performative installation previously presented in the grand Turbine Hall of London's Tate Modern art museum, runs for six performances, September 7-9 at the Navy Yard Building 611, 1120 Flagship Drive.

A second piece, Songs of Wars I Have Seen, runs September 8 and 9 at FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Boulevard. Conducted by renowned Estonian maestro Anu Tali, the staged ensemble piece features musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra and premier baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare and text from Gertrude Stein's World War II memoir Wars I Have Seen. "In a time dominated by opinion-based journalism and partisan rancor, Stein's objectivity provides a welcome respite from the standard political discourse," notes Stuccio. "Without telling us what to think, Goebbels' piece proves surprisingly moving and thought-provoking."

"Heiner Goebbels is undoubtedly one of the great creative minds in international performance," says Stuccio. "It's an honor to present his long-overdue introduction to Philadelphia audiences."

The 2018 Fringe Festival is sponsored by new performance venue The Met Philadelphia. Tickets to FringeArts programming are on sale at FringeArts.com or via phone at 215-413-1318.

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