Why ‘Listen more, hate less’
75 years of CAMERATA Salzburg! In the 2026/2027 season, we will be focusing on a central theme that has not only been the essential foundation of our artistic work for 75 years, but is also one of the most vital social and cultural practices of our time: listening. “Listen more, hate less” is an invitation to us all to reinvigorate the practice of listening in our society.
At a time when there is so much talking, posting and commenting, listening seems to be becoming increasingly rare. On social media, in political debates, and even in private conversations, we currently often experience the opposite of listening: hasty generalisations, knee-jerk judgements, and the tendency to pigeonhole people into familiar categories. The other person is labelled before they have even spoken. This is precisely why listening is one of the most crucial – and most underestimated – cultural skills of our time.
‘For before one criticises, (…) before one can even arrive at a reasonably well-founded response, one must first turn one’s attention to the other person, fascinated by their inevitable otherness, full of curiosity and anticipation of what might emerge and be revealed in conversation.’
Chamber music, particularly when performed without a conductor, thrives on active, attentive and respectful listening. When this shared listening to one another is achieved, something emerges that is greater than the sum of the individual musicians and their instruments. A shared sound emerges, born of attentiveness. Not from insisting on one’s own voice or interpretation, but from a willingness to blend in, to respond, to give space and to take space when musically required.
‘Listen more, hate less’ is therefore an invitation to engage with one another. To listen with an open heart and give the unknown a chance to move us.
We at CAMERATA Salzburg will continue to place our trust in the power of listening. In breathing as one. In shared risk. In an attentive ear. On the heart that listens. Through our concerts, we wish to continue offering you – and ourselves – spaces for listening and moments of silence amidst the clamour of commentary and information, which together make us receptive to inner openness, respect and intellectual flexibility.
