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© TUD

​Interview with Jan Vogler, Cellist and artistic director of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele

TU Dresden:  As an artist, what motivated you to back TU Dresden?

Jan Vogler: Education is, of course, a key to everything, a key to your whole life. Actually, as human beings, we live to know more and to understand more about this world. And I find the promotional campaign very appealing. I hope very much that TU Dresden is successful in the excellence competition. And I'm optimistic that it will work out, and am very, very happy to support it.

TU Dresden: In your view, what significance does the university have for the city?

Jan Vogler: It has a very great significance. First there is the essential significance of transferring knowledge to make us all cleverer. Then there is, of course, an atmospheric significance: the university attracts a lot of young people to the city. 36,000 young students in a city like Dresden, that makes a difference. 36,000 students from all over the world studying here and working hard to prepare for their future, that creates a positive energy for the city. A university city is always richer, more dynamic and more colourful.

TU Dresden: In the campaign, you represent the slogan "Knowledge creates Culture".

Jan Vogler: You can't separate knowledge and culture. Education always has a very profound impact that radiates in all directions. Knowledge enables us to strengthen our understanding for culture and also for social issues. Knowledge enables us to continue to develop. And a university is actually the most wonderful place for imparting knowledge. I grew up in the GDR and always dreamed of studying at a university with a proper campus. Colleges of Music tend to be small and isolated. In America, I saw these huge universities with green meadows in front of them where students sat with their books and studied. And I thought I'd like to study again. And it's still the case today that whenever I go to a university to hold a lecture or perform, I feel very comfortable and can relate immediately to the young people who have enrolled there for a very wonderful purpose.

TU Dresden:  Do you believe Dresdners appreciate their university enough?

Jan Vogler: The very fact that TU Dresden lies outside the city centre and the students tend to stream to the Neustadt (New Town area) rather than the city centre means that the university is still not appreciated as much as it could be. I believe we can link the city more closely with our university. The posters are a good idea for achieving this.

Interview by Kim-Astrid Magister, July 2011

Jan Vogler "Knowledge creates Culture" - Download (4,7 MB)

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