Lyrikmarkt

Sebastian Hackel

Sebastian Hackel c_Karol Kosmonaut

Sebastian Hackel (born in 1989 in Zwickau) is a songwriter who is well-known to many people from his appearances on the German TV shows ‘Ina’s Nacht’ and the ‘Bundesvision Songcontest’ with Stefan Raab. His line “Und ich hab Hasen gesehen, mitten in der Stadt...” (And I’ve seen hares in the middle of the city) from his YouTube clips Warum sie lacht has achieved cult status. He has been writing songs in German for acoustic guitar and releasing them on various platforms since 2007. This earned him a nomination in 2009 from the band 2Raumwohnung for the MySpace Featured Artist spot.

Publications:
Warum sie lacht. EP. Welcome Home Music / Rough Trade 2014
Tageszeitenkurier. Album. Welcome Home Music/Rough Trade 2014
Soll die Welt sich. Single. Welcome Home Music/Rough Trade 2014
Kreideblumen. Album. Ludwig/Indigo 2011

Orphé

Orphé c_Hlose Faure

Orphé, a band formed in Berlin in 2015, comprises seven musicians from various countries - Nafei Abou Assi (trumpet), Robert Barr (guitar), Aeman Hlal (violin), Daisam Jalo (oud), Wesam Karema (accordion), Romeo Natur (drums) and Sebastian Thieme (bass).
Their music brings together various different genres ranging from improvised versions of Oriental and Balkan folk music to contemporary tango and jazz. Four of the band members come from Syria, and three of these arrived only recently in Berlin. The other members are Scottish, French-American and German-Palestinian.

Sven Ratzke

Sven Ratzke c_Dennis Veldman

Sven Ratzke (born in 1977 in Kranenburg on the German-Dutch border) is known as the homme fatal of the chanson and cabaret scene. He is known for his interpretations of the modern vaudeville theatre with elements from cabaret and personality show. Ratzke was touring round the Netherlands with the popular circus De Parade when he was just 16 years old. For more than ten years he has been appearing in solo shows taking him all around Europe and as far as New York and Sydney.
He also collaborates with other artists, including the actor Hanna Schygulla, the singer Nina Hagen, the Dutch actor Ellen ten Damme, the performance artist Joey Arias, the band The Tiger Lillies and with the soprano Claron McFadden.
Since 2006 he has been organising the German-Dutch Nights in Amsterdam with the Goethe Institute, and in 2008-09 he took over the role of the Master of Ceremonies for the Dutch touring production of the musical Cabaret. Since 2013 he has been playing the acclaimed role in the New York rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Berlin and Amsterdam. The winner of several cabaret prizes, he also tours tirelessly with a band or pianist, writes columns, hosts shows and writes texts. Sven Ratzke lives in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Tanasgol Sabbagh

Tanasgol Sabbagh (born in 1993 in Amol, Iran) has been performing nationwide on German Slam stages since 2011. She is studying for her Bachelor degree in Oriental Studies with a focus on politics and her texts frequently deal with social wrongs such as sexism and racism, to which she always makes a personal connection. She currently lives and writes in Berlin and is a regular writer in the Parallelgesellschaft (parallel society) reading series.