The Class of Ursula Neugebauer

TONSPUR for Ukraine V
The Class of Ursula Neugebauer
Piano Concerto for 44 Hands

8-channel soundwork, 7-part series of A1 images, video duration 20’05’’
concept, composition, A1 images, video Klasse Ursula Neugebauer
with May Alatar, Maria Bandomer, Philip Beck, Noémie Borzeix, Iryna Derkunska, Felix Fuchs, Arne Grashoff, Anne-Christine Iser, Yutian Jin, Benjamin Koglin¬, Hanna Laurisch, Yiqing Li, Patrikei Model, Yoon Park, Rozhina Rastgoo, Luna Schamal, Aylin Scheer, Camilla Schlag, Anna Käte Schmidt, Schirin Seider, Leonhard Stieber, Manuel Wagner
installation set up Peter Szely
production TONSPUR Kunstverein Wien
artistic director Georg Weckwerth
in cooperation with Berlin University of the Arts
special thanks Prof. Ursula Neugebauer

TONSPUR_passage | Micro Museum for Sound
TONSPUR_display | Showroom TONSPUR Kunstverein Wien
8.6.–15.8.2026
Preview: Sun June 7, 17 h
Daily 10–20 h

What happens to a grand piano if nobody can play it? What sounds can a curved, angular object produce? How do long, white and short, black surfaces sound when they are interlocked in rows and columns in a fixed order? What does it mean when white is pitted against black? And, what happens when all of the keys are struck at once?

The Piano Concerto for 44 Hands appears as an image of collective presence where several different gestures merge into a single movement. Here, each hand acts both autonomously and in response to the others. This image reflects our idea of solidarity: Individual efforts can only become a collective force through mutual interdependence.

We regard the Piano Concerto for 44 Hands as one work presented in two locations. The video installation on show at TONSPUR_display is intended as a composition in its own right, while this is only apparent on a visual level. Independently of the video installation, the sound work created for the TONSPUR_passage is also a composition in its own right, whereas it can be understood aurally. It raises questions about how the sounds heard were generated. We are interested here in the potential expansion of a composition through the separation of images and sounds. Bringing the two together imaginatively — making them one — requires the viewers’ active participation. In mentally piecing together images and sounds, they themselves become part of the collective process of individual action and mutual engagement. The posters on display in the TONSPUR_passage depict some of the instruments used in the concert to, serve as a bridge.

As art students in Prof. Ursula Neugebauer’s class at the Berlin University of the Arts, we are performing a Piano Concerto for 44 Hands. This is a collaborative piece that was created in response to the war in Ukraine. We express our solidarity with all of the people around the world who are affected by war and persecution.

The Class of Ursula Neugebauer • May Alatar • Maria Bandomer • Philip Beck • Noémie Borzeix • Iryna Derkunska • Felix Fuchs • Arne Grashoff • Anne-Christine Iser • Yutian Jin • Benjamin Koglin­ • Hanna Laurisch • Yiqing Li • Patrikei Model • Yoon Park • Rozhina Rastgoo • Luna Schamal • Aylin Scheer • Camilla Schlag • Anna Käte Schmidt • Schirin Seider • Leonhard Stieber • Manuel Wagner