
Birds don't sing out of joy, but because they have something to say.
Synthesizer sounds, singing, and nocturnal gardens provide the backdrop for the whims of birds. The concert performance Sceptical Birds seeks an idiosyncratic understanding of animal languages and the existential questions they conceal.
An androgynous figure moves awkwardly through the twilight and begins to sing with a voice that hovers between genders and languages: What if we didn't have to wait for a new day? What if the night were saved?
Jacob Bussmann's music takes up the melodic twists and circular repetitions of bird calls without imitating them realistically. His intricate compositions break away from traditional pop structures, disintegrate into syllables, set poems by Gertrude Stein to music, and indulge in grand gestures.
Meeting point: Gewächshaus (greenhouse), Merian Gärten
out & about - Kaserne Basel x Merian Gärten
14:00-17:00 Alma Söderberg: Sound a Rose In
15:00 Milo Probst: Anarchistische Ökologien
18:00 Petra Serhal: Gestures of Care: Sihr
19:30 ALICE
21:00 Bruno Freire: Life is not useful
23:00 Jacob Bussmann: Sceptical Birds
23:45 Patricija Katica Bronic, Jasmin Albash:
With a ticket for a single event from out & about, you can attend all events from out & about - Kaserne Basel x Merian Gärten on September 6, 2025!
Jacob Bussmann
Jacob Bussmann (born 1984) lives in Frankfurt am Main and works as a musician and performer. He studied piano at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, as well as applied theater studies in Giessen. He collaborates on theatrical, performative, and musical projects in the independent scene in Frankfurt am Main (Mousonturm, Implantieren Festival, studioNAXOS, saasfee*pavillon). As a performer and musician, he has been involved in projects by Zaungäste (Schlaflos, Trip of A Lifetime) and Jan Philipp Stange (All in All, Great Depressions, Good Night, Hard Feelings), among others. He has arranged song recitals, composed stage music, and worked as a musical director for municipal theaters in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Marburg, Magdeburg, Dresden, and Vienna. Productions in which he has been involved have been invited to the Körber Studio Junge Regie (Hamburg), Bâtard Festival (Amsterdam), Fast Forward (Dresden), and Impulse Festival (Düsseldorf), among others.
Credits
Jacob Bussmann
Music/Performance
Rahel Kesselring
Scenography
Henrike Kohpeiß
Dramaturgy
Hanna Steinmair
Choreography