Philosophical think tank
Objective
The Nikolaus Harnoncourt Zentrum establishes a cultural-philosophical think tank curated by Florian Boesch. Nikolaus Harnoncourt was not only a musician but also a great thinker on the social issues of our time and never missed an opportunity to point out to politicians or other decision-makers the shortcomings in education and cultural life. Nikolaus Harnoncourt saw the promotion of artistic understanding and artistic sensibility in all social strata as one of the most important tasks of cultural policy, a task whose fulfilment he demanded as a human right for all. In this sense, Nikolaus Harnoncourt made it clear in a review of his life’s work for performers and receptive listeners alike: not complacent enjoyment, but lifelong work is necessary in order to be able to answer the questions about what remains in art with Robert Musil: ‘We, as the changed, remain.’
For these events, Florian Boesch will invite personalities of our time to discuss current burning issues. These symposia or panel discussions take place in St. Georgen im Attergau and are streamed online.
Dates
Seventh Philosophical Discussion: Art as a Space for Imagination
Florian Boesch in conversation with pianist and cultural manager Markus Hinterhäuser
11 July 2026, 7 p.m.
Art begins where the visible and the audible end. It opens up spaces for thought and experience, gives rise to meanings, and points beyond the work at hand — into memory, history, and the as-yet-unthought.
In this vein, Nikolaus Harnoncourt posed a fundamental question: Should we play what is written in the score — or what is intended? During a rehearsal of Haydn’s The Seasons, he put it even more concretely: “What you are to do is not in the score. It has not yet been composed. It only comes into being through the act of making.”
This statement touches on the very core of artistic imagination. Harnoncourt’s verbal imagery in rehearsals was never mere instruction — it was an invitation: an invitation to enter a space that opens up beyond the notation. What is imagined on stage is conveyed wordlessly into the auditorium, where it awakens entirely unique, unpredictable visual worlds within the listeners. Once the music has faded away, it must be recreated anew at every performance.
The same applies to the visual arts. Nor does the artwork exist solely on the canvas or in the stone — it is only completed in the gaze, in the body, in the resonance of the viewers.
Anselm Kiefer put it succinctly: “The essence of art is that it points us beyond the work itself.”
Landesmusikschule St. Georgen im Attergau
Nikolaus-Harnoncourt-Saal
Greil-Str 43, 4880 St. Georgen i.A.
FREE ADMISSION
Please register at: office@attergauer-kultursommer.at
The event will be streamed live.
Access is barrier-free.
In cooperation with Attergauer Kultursommer
Sixth Philosophical Discussion: Educated, but incapable of seeing the big picture!
Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the creative primal force of un-disciplined, unbridled thinking
Panel discussion with
Prof. Ernst Smole, International Nikolaus Harnoncourt Forum for Art, Education & Science Association
Prof. Dr. Edda Polz, Education scientist, University of Education Lower Austria
Georg Kapsch, President of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) 2012-2020
Moderator: Tanja Obmann-Lichtblau
9 May 2026, 11:00 a.m.
The problems facing humanity in the first two decades of the new century require – unlike in the 20th century – networked, global thinking and local action. The strict separation of STEM and non-STEM disciplines, with the accompanying patterns of thinking, inevitably reaches its limits in the face of geopolitical challenges.
We observe this ‘demarcation’ in our everyday lives, but also in political discussions, with the result that often nothing moves forward – for example, in education or health care reform, or in matters of climate and global policy.
From childhood onwards, Nikolaus Harnoncourt never allowed himself to be pigeonholed. As an eternal seeker, he constantly questioned everything and himself. Was he a musicologist? No. He was a researcher and innovator who always applied his findings in practice. Was he a qualified teacher? No. His lectures on performance practice at the Mozarteum in Salzburg from 1973 onwards were stormed by students and viewed with scepticism by professors. His insights sparked discussions. He sought contradiction in order to grow. Was he an author? No, but his books are read all over the world. Was he a trained conductor? No. He conducted with conviction.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt was an example of how extraordinary things can happen when you think and act outside the box – and against the resistance of the respective specialists.
There are Nobel Prize winners who are honoured for achievements outside their actual profession, or the study from the USA that shows that most Nobel Prize winners – compared to scientists without a Nobel Prize – engage in high-level artistic and craft activities in their free time without being formal ‘professionals’ in these fields.
FREE ADMISSION
The event was streamed live.
Access is barrier-free.
Supporting programme for the International Harnoncourt Tage Festival.
Fifth Philosophical discussion “Attitude and pose”
Florian Boesch in conversation with philosopher Lambert Wiesing and harpist Magdalena Hoffmann
14 February 2026, 3 pm
Florian Boesch: “Attitude grows out of conviction—posing out of the desire to be seen. Where one ends and the other begins remains a question that permeates both art and life. Are they enemies or just facets of the same thing, and it just depends on where you look at it from? The longer I look, the less clear the picture becomes to me.”
Lambert Wiesing: “Just as attitudes have a reputation for being something positive, poses have a reputation for being something negative. Is that really the case? Aren’t attitudes always also the questionable expression of stubbornness and dogmatism, and aren’t poses always also the welcome expression of openness and pluralism?”
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Joseph-Haydn-Saal
mdw-Campus, Bauteil A
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien
ADMISSION FREE
The event was streamed live.
Seventh Philosophical Discussion: Art as a Space for Imagination
Florian Boesch in conversation with pianist and cultural manager Markus Hinterhäuser
11 July 2026, 7 p.m.
Art begins where the visible and the audible end. It opens up spaces for thought and experience, gives rise to meanings, and points beyond the work at hand — into memory, history, and the as-yet-unthought.
In this vein, Nikolaus Harnoncourt posed a fundamental question: Should we play what is written in the score — or what is intended? During a rehearsal of Haydn’s The Seasons, he put it even more concretely: “What you are to do is not in the score. It has not yet been composed. It only comes into being through the act of making.”
This statement touches on the very core of artistic imagination. Harnoncourt’s verbal imagery in rehearsals was never mere instruction — it was an invitation: an invitation to enter a space that opens up beyond the notation. What is imagined on stage is conveyed wordlessly into the auditorium, where it awakens entirely unique, unpredictable visual worlds within the listeners. Once the music has faded away, it must be recreated anew at every performance.
The same applies to the visual arts. Nor does the artwork exist solely on the canvas or in the stone — it is only completed in the gaze, in the body, in the resonance of the viewers.
Anselm Kiefer put it succinctly: “The essence of art is that it points us beyond the work itself.”
Landesmusikschule St. Georgen im Attergau
Nikolaus-Harnoncourt-Saal
Greil-Str 43, 4880 St. Georgen i.A.
FREE ADMISSION
Please register at: office@attergauer-kultursommer.at
The event will be streamed live.
Access is barrier-free.
In cooperation with Attergauer Kultursommer
Sixth Philosophical Discussion: Educated, but incapable of seeing the big picture!
Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the creative primal force of un-disciplined, unbridled thinking
Panel discussion with
Prof. Ernst Smole, International Nikolaus Harnoncourt Forum for Art, Education & Science Association
Prof. Dr. Edda Polz, Education scientist, University of Education Lower Austria
Georg Kapsch, President of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) 2012-2020
Moderator: Tanja Obmann-Lichtblau
9 May 2026, 11:00 a.m.
The problems facing humanity in the first two decades of the new century require – unlike in the 20th century – networked, global thinking and local action. The strict separation of STEM and non-STEM disciplines, with the accompanying patterns of thinking, inevitably reaches its limits in the face of geopolitical challenges.
We observe this ‘demarcation’ in our everyday lives, but also in political discussions, with the result that often nothing moves forward – for example, in education or health care reform, or in matters of climate and global policy.
From childhood onwards, Nikolaus Harnoncourt never allowed himself to be pigeonholed. As an eternal seeker, he constantly questioned everything and himself. Was he a musicologist? No. He was a researcher and innovator who always applied his findings in practice. Was he a qualified teacher? No. His lectures on performance practice at the Mozarteum in Salzburg from 1973 onwards were stormed by students and viewed with scepticism by professors. His insights sparked discussions. He sought contradiction in order to grow. Was he an author? No, but his books are read all over the world. Was he a trained conductor? No. He conducted with conviction.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt was an example of how extraordinary things can happen when you think and act outside the box – and against the resistance of the respective specialists.
There are Nobel Prize winners who are honoured for achievements outside their actual profession, or the study from the USA that shows that most Nobel Prize winners – compared to scientists without a Nobel Prize – engage in high-level artistic and craft activities in their free time without being formal ‘professionals’ in these fields.
FREE ADMISSION
The event was streamed live.
Access is barrier-free.
Supporting programme for the International Harnoncourt Tage Festival.
Fifth Philosophical discussion “Attitude and pose”
Florian Boesch in conversation with philosopher Lambert Wiesing and harpist Magdalena Hoffmann
14 February 2026, 3 pm
Florian Boesch: “Attitude grows out of conviction—posing out of the desire to be seen. Where one ends and the other begins remains a question that permeates both art and life. Are they enemies or just facets of the same thing, and it just depends on where you look at it from? The longer I look, the less clear the picture becomes to me.”
Lambert Wiesing: “Just as attitudes have a reputation for being something positive, poses have a reputation for being something negative. Is that really the case? Aren’t attitudes always also the questionable expression of stubbornness and dogmatism, and aren’t poses always also the welcome expression of openness and pluralism?”
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Joseph-Haydn-Saal
mdw-Campus, Bauteil A
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien
ADMISSION FREE
The event was streamed live.
Second think tank discussion: Investigative singing and poetic proof – Peter Sloterdijk
Peter Sloterdijk in conversation with Florian Boesch
10 May 2025 at 11 am
Panel discussion on the topic of ‘Investigative singing and poetic proof’
Florian Boesch, curator of the Denkwerkstatt: ‘Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be expressed can be expressed clearly. Much that can be said can be said poetically. Some things can only be said poetically. And what you can’t talk about, you can sing about.’
Nikolaus Harnoncourt: ‘Art is a different language, always beyond the practical, often beyond the logical; one of its foundations of thought is the imagination, perhaps the “thinking of the heart” as Pascal contrasts it with logic, “arithmetical” thinking.’
FREE ADMISSION
As part of the International Nikolaus Harnoncourt Days
The event was streamed live.