Feeding the 5,000

Two thousand years ago, Jesus required five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000 people. The Biblical legend of the multiplication of the loaves serves as the starting point for the new production “Feeding the 5,000” at Kampnagel in Hamburg. The performance group Kommando Himmelfahrt composed, arranged and staged this new music theatre production for a chorus, string orchestra and three vocalists. Kommando Himmelfahrt was founded in 2008 by the composer Jan Dvořák and director Thomas Fiedler. Their large-scale, pop-musical theatre productions combine elements of music theatre, performance and concert. Avant-garde compositions clash with songs and show elements while lecture performances are combined with choreographed theatre reminiscent of silent films. The organisers acquired the Kampnagel Choir to perform the choral line, as well as the Ensemble Resonanz as the orchestra – an ensemble of the highest musical quality which not only works with contemporary composers, but also fine artists, media artists and directors. Kommando Himmelfahrt invited audiences to a Baroque cantata, in which sounds, songs, texts and images united in a Baroque richness and viewers became both observers and participants of a community.

Artistic director: Kommando Himmelfahrt (Jan Dvořák / Thomas Fiedler/ Julia Warnemünde)
Singer/performer: Jan Plewka, Peter Maertens, Thomas Leboeg, Carl-John Hoffmann, String ensemble: Ensemble Resonanz, Choir: Kommando Himmelfahrt Choir, Video: niedervolthoudini, Stage design: Eylien König, Costumes: Ewen Kramer