Open Hof: Ronja Maltzahn Duo

Ronja’s music is at home in the wide world. In 2018, she met her partner Fede in Italy, and since then, music has been their shared life. Her art is about more than just music. “On the longest journey around the world, we encounter ourselves.” In their new album, the two artist sisters have woven their languages together, blending colors and sounds into a 140-page picture book story that tells of courage, hope, and friendship, and explores the meaning of home. She spent some time dealing with homesickness, studied music and chemistry in Münster, where she met singer and multi-instrumentalist Melvin and saxophonist Lexi, played in a musical theater orchestra, conducted choirs, and launched music projects with international families in refugee shelters, and whirled from one project to the next. As the world came to a standstill once again, Ronja delved deeper into her cultural roots and released an album with 10 songs entirely in German (Heimweh); she then translated the exact same songs word-for-word into English (Homewards), and wrote an accompanying book of poetry detailing the story behind each song. As the pandemic came to an end and the world opened up again, Ronja traveled from her current home base in Hanover to numerous UNESCO Cities of Music, performing at conferences and showcase festivals in Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, and South Korea—her wanderlust found a place to thrive once more. In addition to her personal interest in environmental sustainability and animal welfare, and her advocacy for equality and visibility as a FLINTA* artist in a male-dominated (music) world, she focuses her art particularly on social sustainability and the pursuit of peaceful global coexistence. Tanya was only 15 years old at the time and was attending school in Kharkiv; she had been working on the animated music video (“Like a Wolf”) for a year when the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, completely changing the song’s meaning. Tanya now lives in Ronja and Fede’s artist’s house; together, they have created a 140-page illustrated book that weaves 12 songs into a single story.

https://ronjamaltzahn.de/ronjasworld/

Seated, open seating