Winter proved to be a magical season for German Studies at UW, as the Seattle Opera’s innovative new production of Die Zauberflöte prompted a series of inspiring and thought-provoking events. This production, originally directed by Barrie Kosky at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2012, channels the aesthetic of German Expressionist silent films from the 1920s to have singers interact with whimsical, eye-popping animations. The 1791 opera by Mozart and Schikaneder has been a crowd-pleaser for over two centuries, and our departmental events explored both what makes the show a perennial hit and why it remains instructively problematic today.
- Faculty Lectures: The Seattle Opera invited two faculty members to give talks: Professor Annegret Oehme gave the pre-show talk for the “German Day at the Opera,” and Ellwood Wiggins offered a lecture on “The Magic Flute and the Enlightenment” for the Seattle Opera’s immersive seminar series.
- A Magic Flute for the 21st Century: Seattle Opera Associate Director of Community Engagement Alex Minami and UW German Studies alum (class of 2010) gave a presentation for the department followed by a lively discussion over a catered reception.
Associate Director of Community Engagement (and UW alum) Alex Minami explains
- Opera Outing: German Studies Department staff, students, and faculty attended a performance of the opera together on March 2nd. A generous donation by Lee Scheingold enabled many undergraduate students from our winter courses (Annegret Oehme’s Spring in Vienna orientation class and Ellwood Wiggins’s Cultures of Music) to see an opera for the very first time. They were so blown away by the experience that they all declared it would not be their last!
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dianne Harris, meets with German Studies students, staff, and faculty during intermission at the Seattle Opera production of Die Zauberflöte, March 2nd, 2025.
- Departmental Seminar: Finally, we gathered on March 7th to devote our quarterly seminar to a discussion of the opera and the production we witnessed. This is an open conversation that aims to dispense with academic hierarchies and welcomes everyone as equal partners in common pursuit to grapple with important questions together.