© Werner Kmetitsch

© Clara Evens

Many people have the feeling that living together in society with people of different opinions has become more difficult.
Discussions harden quickly, bridges in conversations are no longer crossed, the social “bubbles” mainly keep to themselves.
Tensions are rising, groups are drifting apart, opinions are becoming more extreme and debates more heated.
The coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the enormous rise in inflation and the cost of living, the war in Israel and Gaza – all of this has given rise to strong opinions and often positions that are difficult or impossible to reconcile.
Last but not least, this has also been reflected in election results across Europe.
Or in the social media, with increasingly polarizing, enormously influential forces.
– So how can we live together despite the tensions?

How does that work in our time?
How can we live together with people who have different opinions?
Who hold different attitudes, who have different experiences, affiliations and identities?
How can we engage in dialog with those who think differently?

© Marco Borggreve

Mascia Sergievskaya

We would like to talk about this with our artists at the Musikverein.
And they ask: not for simple solutions, of course, because there can be no such thing.
But: about experiences they have had of very different people, individuals or groups living together successfully.
For example, experiences from special professional or musical projects that focused on people living together well, or personal experiences from their own biography, background and individual history.

The aim is to create a large, free panorama through all the conversations with the artists throughout the season: From diverse, individual insights, contributions, opinions, experiences and perspectives on the question of how we can live together.
Despite all social tensions and divisions.
A series of talks at the Vienna Musikverein.

Ben Gyula Fodor