Accompanied by pianist Anthony Coleman, bassist Brad Jones, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi and clarinetist and guitarist Doug Wieselman, Weigl performed a diverse musical program for the sell-out audience.

Born in Romania, Sanda was thirteen when political persecution forced the family to move to East Berlin. There her father was reunited with his only surviving relative, Helene Weigl, Bertolt Brecht's widow and director of the Berliner Ensemble. Sanda was immersed in the Brecht/Weill tradition, meeting Lotte Lenya and studying with Helene.

While a teenager, Sanda joined the state-sponsored rock band Team 4, lead by future East German Deputy Minister of Culture Hartmut Koenig. At the height of Team 4's success, Sanda became embroiled in the political unrest of 1968. In protest against the East German army's participation in the Prague invasion, Sanda formed an underground activist group, distributing subversive pamphlets throughout East Berlin. She was arrested and sentenced to two and half years in prison. International outcry against the government's harsh treatment of the teenage group led to her release from jail, but Sanda still endured three years of hard labor on an assembly line and was barred from public performance for six years.

Labeled an enemy of the state, Sanda was expelled to West Germany. The musicians from the Robert Wilson /Tom Waits piece The Black Rider became Sanda's band as she delved back into her beloved Romanian Gypsy music for critically acclaimed concerts in Hamburg.

With the help and encouragement of Robert Wilson, Sanda and Klaus emmigrated to New York, where Sanda began to explore the downtown music world. Sanda then met composer Anthony Coleman.

At the concert, Sanda Weigl and Anthony Coleman dealt with the poetic legacy of Walther von der Vogelweide and lead it into the musical world of the Big Apple. Coleman and Weigl presented the old verses in new compositions which give musical space to the narrative dimension of Walther's language so that one can recognise a modern poet.

Songs by Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht, Misha Spoliansky and Friedrich Holländer completed the evening.

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February 1, 2008