To help propel young musical talent to the next level, Europavox have teamed up with several academic institutions throughout Europe, improving mobility for student musicians across the continent.
Entitled Europavox Campus, the initiative aims to bring together students from all backgrounds to participate and perform, providing them with the tools needed to take their music further. Amongst the participating education centres is the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH), Regensburg, Germany. Matthias Segerer who leads the city’s centre for youth culture, W1, spoke to Europavox about his view of the collaboration.
The city of Regensburg is located in south-east Bavaria on the Danube River. Being a university town, it’s had a substantial history of bringing together musicians from across Europe, creating collaborations in various forms. Indeed, the city has had its fair share of success stories, including more recently that of Leutrim Beqiri, aka. Byrd, the Grammy-nominated producer who worked with reggaeton icon Bad Bunny.
“Back in the Middle Ages, a monk once said that Regensburg is both old and new at the same time,” Segerer says when asked about the city’s current culture scene. “I think that youth culture, and especially music, plays a huge role in day-to-day life here.”
Youth Power
The W1 was established back in 2009 as a place to enable the youth of Regensburg to collaborate, perform, learn, network and more. It runs events, exhibitions, offers performance spaces, workshops and much more. Overall, it is an integral part of the community. It also works alongside the OTH Regensburg to provide new opportunities for the students who attend.
“A lot of the students from OTH Regensburg come to W1 to participate,” explains Segerer. “We’ve been working together for quite a while now. We also offer internships, and networking opportunities, which is very important.”
Five selected bands will perform at the W1 on February 17 as part of Europavox Campus. Organised by the OTH Regensburg, the regional competition will see each act perform a 20-minute set. The winning band—as decided by a jury—will get the opportunity to play in Clermont-Ferrand, alongside other winning acts from Norway, Romania and France.
Vying for an opportunity to travel to France are punk rock act Raveslut; indie-rock combo Hadé; duo Zaraluna; solo act Emi Lia; and singer-songwriter elen in wavs.
“The bands that are taking part come from very different scenes, so it will be very exciting to see what happens,” Segerer says of the up-coming performances. “I think it’s good for those bands to get to show each other what they are doing. The whole [Europavox] Campus idea for me is about networking, meeting different people, and trying to build a community.”
Segerer will be part of the judging team, alongside renowned German producer Irmgard Klarmann, and a selection of students, alumni, and cultural staff members. The winning band will perform at the grand European final in the Coopérative de Mai concert hall in Clermont-Ferrand on April 26, 2023, where a pan-European jury will choose the winner. The winning band or musician will then receive European-wide promotion, and help further the success of their home-town.
“Regensburg is an international city, which means there’s a lot of networking that happens here, therefore, I think the Campus idea suits the city really well, and I’m really excited to see what happens next,” Segerer concludes.
