Nico and the Navigators
NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS - 19 years of ensemble work
NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS were founded in 1998 by Nicola Hümpel and Oliver Proske at the Bauhaus Dessau. As resident artists at Berlin’s Sophiensæle between the years of 1999 and 2005, they developed a production series themed “Menschenbilder.” The visually powerful performances brought about a string of successful stagings and established them on the global theatre landscape.
In 2006, “Wo Du nicht bist,” with compositions by Franz Schubert, marked their first step into the world of music-theatre. Performances followed based on the works of Händel, Bach and Rossini. In 2012, the premiere of “Mahlermania” was performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin to coincide with the launch of their new stage, the “Tischlerei.” The premiere of “Their Days are Numbered,” an interpretation of Elias Canetti’s drama, was performed in collaboration with composer, Detlev Glanert, at the Residenztheater for the Munich Biennale for Contemporary Music Theatre in May 2014. “The hour we knew too much of each other” brought the ensemble back to its roots and premiered as an independent production at the Kampnagel theatre in Hamburg in May 2015. In April 2016, Nicola Hümpel, together with Nico and the Navigators, staged Philippe Boesman’s “Reigen” at the Oper Stuttgart.
Nico and the Navigators’ productions are to be found on stages worldwide ranging from festivals, theatres and opera houses. The over 200 guest performances include amongst others, the Uijeongbu International Music Theatre Festival in Korea, the Opéra Comique, the Opéra Dijon, the Opéra de Nîmes, the Opéra de Rouen, the Kunstfest Weimar, the Wiener Festwochen, the Bregenzer Festspiele, as well as the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg.
The ensemble has been funded by the Berlin government since 2007 and they have enjoyed institutional support since 2014. In 2001, they were awarded the George Tabori Prize, Germany’s principal award for independent theatre companies. In September 2016, Nicola Hümpel was awarded the Konrad Wolf Prize by Berlin’s Academy of Arts.
In addition to her work with the ensemble, Nicola Hümpel teaches her methods in numerous workshops and academies, such as the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding, the International Festival Academy in Polverigi and the Otto Falckenberg School.
