Music in the Garden

 

Summer Nights’ Dreams 2007

The Botanic Garden of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz celebrated its 60-year anniversary in 2007. The garden together with the School of Music extended an invitation to two large events in July 2007 themed "Summer Nights’ Dreams." They constituted the culmination of a diverse array of activities throughout the anniversary year.

 

The Summer Nights’ Dreams began with a musical night in the beautifully lit grounds of the Botanic Garden. Guests listened to a diverse music program performed by students and teaching staff of the School of Music on a center stage and two smaller side stages.

Following two years of restructuring work on the Botanic Garden, the facility on the university campus presented itself in its new form with completely new themes at the big summer party. The exhibition "Plant - Research - Conserve" recalled the 60-year history of the garden and previewed developments for the future.

Garden enthusiasts and plant lovers were spoilt for choice at the plant bazaar. More than 2,000 plants from JGU's Botanic Garden stock were available - among them seedlings from dove trees, gingko, hemp palms, bitter orange trees, hardy cactuses and fuchsia, a variety of bushes, vanilla flowers, and orange blossoms as well as different coffee and cocoa plants.

The lighting concept for the music program was created by the artists Tanja Labs and Bernd Kammer. Shades of green and warm yellow light set the mood for the Summer Night. The light show focused on structures found in the garden - the network of paths, the new avenue of trees, a series of park benches, and the tall coniferous forest - and emphasized them by using different light sources. A special feature was the computer animation presented in the garden's pavilion. Moving light images inspired by floral shapes and colors allowed viewers to make their own personal Summer Night Dream associations.