ABSTRACT
The resonanzraum in Hamburg is the home of the independent chamber music orchestra Ensemble Resonanz. Located in a former military bunker, it is one of the city’s major venues for pop music and the electronic music scene. This chapter argues that a unique conflation of different cultural dimensions enact the atmospheric quality of this space. It further proposes that this spatial enactment of atmosphere is a productive part of the innovative character of the orchestra’s musical work. Atmosphere unfolds in three cultural ways: first, in historical dimensions, such as here through the reconfigured architectural program of a repurposed military bunker space; second, in sensory dimensions, concerning the experience of unique elements of the venue and their different aesthetic forms (bar, stage setting, stroboscopic lighting, etc.); and, finally, in political dimensions, which address different audiences by reinstating the conventional stage for classical music.
