“The studio and the group became a separate little world for me; it was my comfort zone for being creative. I’d never have dreamt I’d be able to make music and record my own song that way.” – Eva-Lotta Trojandt, workshop participant

Teenagers especially have found it hard to make themselves heard in the broadest sense of the word over the past two years. There was much hand-wringing over the situation in schools and the difficult position teenagers have been in during successive lockdowns – but the youngsters themselves rarely got a word in while they were sequestered in isolation or home schooling. What issues resonate with young people today? How has the pandemic affected their lives? And what are their hopes and fears and doubts for the future?

Over the summer the Earl Records music collective teamed up with “Stark gemacht!” and a raft of other supportive groups to initiate and conduct music workshops for young Berlin residents. 24 participants aged between 13 and 21 wrote the music and lyrics to their own songs on a theme of “The Voice of Youth”, which were recorded in a studio at the end of the project. The songs give vent to the youngsters’ thoughts and feelings, with individuals and groups recounting how they got on during the last year of the pandemic.

The Deutsche Oper Berlin is now showcasing these teenagers on its main stage. In a collaboration with the Youth Chorus and Children’s Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin they are giving a public performance of their songs alongside selected works from the choral repertoire spanning songs from the 20th and 21st centuries. With “Unheard Stories – can you hear us?” the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Earl Records are inviting people of any age to listen to the stories, questions and thoughts of these young people and take an interest in their day-to-day reality. The last word is given to their creativity and their own ideas of what the future holds for them.