Young people showcase their talent at the Carl Loewe House

The young artists, aged between 10 and 17, demonstrated their talent in front of an enthusiastic audience in the packed chamber music hall of the Carl Loewe House on September 27th as part of the 2025 Youth Music Festival. The event was organized by the Saxony-Anhalt State Music Council.
The performers included:

Guitar duo Franz Jänicke and Fino Fleischer with
a German dance,
Joseph Küffner: Ecossaise,
Ratzkowski & Thomse: Las Gaviotas,
El condor pasa,
Mark Oliver Klenk: Boy from Brazil,
Tatiana Stachak: Milonga.

Trumpet: Emil R. Simeon Mögwitz
Piano: Benjamin Plaul
performed by:
Herbert Kamprath: Three of "Five Episodes for Jazz Trumpet and Piano"
Gust'l Huuck: Two movements from "Little Pieces for Trumpet and Piano"

Josephine Elsäßer, oboe, and
Laetitia Philippa Kluth, piano:
Robert Schumann: Forest Scenes - The Entrance
Alessandro Marcello: 2nd Movement (Adagio) from the Concerto for Oboe
Benjamin Britten: The Grasshopper

Leonard Stein (cello) and Evghenia Cerkes (piano) shone with Camille Saint Saens' Allegro appassionato.

Maria Frank (oboe) and Marcelina Byzdra (piano) delighted the audience with the Adagio sans lenteur and Allegro from the Duo Sonata in E minor for oboe and piano by Jacques Christian Michel Widerkehr.

The concert concluded and marked the artistic highlight with Selva Schmidt Maiwald on the piano, with
Isaac Albéniz: Suite Espanola, Op. 47, No. 4 "Cádiz"
Manuel de Falla: Spanish Dance
No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata, Op. 2, No. 1, IV. Prestissimo

ICLG President Honored with the State Order of Merit

ICLG President Andreas Porsche received the Order of Merit of the State of Saxony-Anhalt from Minister-President Dr. Reiner Haseloff on September 17, 2025, in the Magdeburg State Chancellery. This order is the state's highest honor.

In his laudatory speech, the Minister-President recognized Porsche's long-standing and sustained contributions to preserving the Carl Loewe legacy. Andreas Porsche was honored for his "outstanding commitment to a vibrant culture, particularly to a diverse musical landscape in Saxony-Anhalt, and for his contribution to revitalizing cultural tourism."

He has been chairman of the Carl Loewe Circle of Friends of the GDR Cultural Association since its founding in 1984. He has served as its president since the ICLG was founded in 1992. In 2009, he was a founding member of the "Street of Music" association, whose board he remains to this day.

Photo: Wolfgang Rathgen

Nominated for the German Volunteering Award 2025

The International Carl Loewe Society has been nominated by the German Federation of Homeland and Environment (BHU) for the 2025 German Volunteering Award.

The award is the most prestigious recognition for volunteer work in Germany.

Only the winners of over 650 volunteering awards are eligible to participate. We are delighted by this recognition!

In late summer, an independent jury of experts will select the winners in various subject areas.

In the fall, an additional audience award will be presented through a public vote.

On December 5, the winners will be celebrated at a festive awards ceremony in Berlin – with €10,000 in prize money and a short film about their volunteer work.

More information about the award: https://www.deutscher-engagementpreis.de/

International Museum Day 2025

On May 18, 2025, we celebrated the day of action with the goal of raising global awareness of the social role of museums. Visitors were invited to discover the diversity of museums. This included the Carl Loewe Museum, a precious and unique gem among the world of music museums. The response was remarkably positive.

Our offerings on this day included:
2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. - Free guided tours
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Concert by students and teachers from the Carl Loewe District Music School, a real highlight.
Many thanks to all participants!

General meeting elects new executive committee

On March 23, 2025, the ICLG General Assembly met in Löbejün. Due to the resignations of members of the Executive Board, new elections were necessary. The President and members expressed their special thanks to Dr. Heidelore Rathgen and Gisela Webel, who stepped down from the Executive Board after many years of service.

The new Executive Board consists of (from left):
Kerstin Kündiger, Antje Klecar, Gabriele Neugebauer (Treasurer),
Gisela Chankiewitz, Ilka Grießer,
Andreas Porsche (President), and Frieder Badstübner (Vice President).

ICLG is honored in Berlin with the

Award for Sustainable Local Commitment

The award for sustainable local commitment is awarded to active initiatives or associations whose commitment meets several dimensions in the sense of the global sustainability strategy. The award recognizes the commitment to preserving the regional natural and cultural heritage and the creation of social and economic networks.

The jury - consisting of representatives of the BMI, the BHU and municipal umbrella organizations - selected five initiatives and associations from across Germany for the second time.

The focus of the assessment is local commitment that takes more than one aspect of the global sustainability strategy into account, i.e. has an economic, social, ecological or cultural dimension. The prizes are each endowed with 1,000 Euros.

Foto: BHU Baschlakow

The award was presented on June 24, 2024, as part of the BHU Federal Congress in Berlin's Red City Hall by the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (BMI), Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter. The laudatory speech was given by the Federal Managing Director Dr. Inge Gotzmann of the Federal Association of Homeland Societies in Germany (BHU).

We are very pleased about this honor because it is a beautiful way of recognizing our voluntary commitment!

Löbejün is recognized as a COUNTRY MUSIC VENUE 2024

Eleven municipalities were named "Country Music Venue of the Year" by the German Music Council in 2024. This prize will be awarded for the third time in 2024. For the first time, a municipality from Saxony-Anhalt is among the winners: Wettin-Löbejün.
The award ceremony took place during a concert entitled "Loewe & Goethe" on August 31, 2024 in the chamber music hall of the Carl Loewe House in Löbejün.
In her laudation, Prof. Jutta Schnitzer-Ungefug, former Secretary General of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and President of the State Music Council of Saxony-Anhalt, praised the musical life in the Carl Loewe town: "This honor is not only recognition of the extraordinary musical commitment of this town. It is also proof of how music as a cultural force can enrich the life of a place in many ways and increase its appeal far beyond its own borders... At the center of this diverse musical life is ... the International Carl Loewe Society, which has been tirelessly cultivating Carl Loewe's musical legacy and spreading it around the world since its founding in 1992."