Faces in HELLERAU - Henriette Roth, Head of Communications, #2-2023

In the "Faces" series, we introduce people who work in front of or behind the scenes at HELLERAU to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that our guests feel at home.

How long have you been working at HELLERAU and how did you come to work here?

I come from Dresden and studied sociology, psychology and communication science here. Through numerous internships in press and public relations - including at the former Dresden Centre for Contemporary Music, from which the current HELLERAU partly emerged - I realised that I wanted to work in this field in the future. I also wrote my master's thesis for the Dresden Centre for Contemporary Music and interviewed the audience of the 13th Dresden Days of Contemporary Music in 1999. When Carena Schlewitt took up her post in 2018 and was looking for a new Head of Communications, I seized my chance and applied. With success.

Which team are you currently working with?

My department includes Justine Büschel, who is primarily responsible for online communication, Jule Fuchs, who is responsible for audience development, cultural education and networks, and Isabelle Zschömitzsch as Head of Ticketing, Visitor Centre and Tourism. A project assistant and two FSJ volunteers complete the team.

What are your tasks associated with the team?

As a department, we are responsible for making the HELLERAU programme as widely known as possible. We think about which people are interested in certain programmes, where they find information and what might interest them about the programmes and coordinate our communication measures accordingly. These include printed materials such as the HELLERAU magazine, the monthly programmes, flyers and posters or online measures such as the website, newsletter or social media. My main tasks are long-term communication planning, managing the HELLERAU magazine and press relations. Overall, communication is a dynamic and varied field for me, where I often think up to a year in advance. But that's exactly what I wanted for my work.

What does your typical day at HELLERAU look like?

There is no such thing as a typical day. Our work is based on the priority of our next events, deadlines and communication with our graphic design agency Any Studio in Berlin. In order to work well, we regularly exchange ideas with the team, artists and partners. I also find the dialogue with communication colleagues from the other houses in the alliance of international production houses very valuable.

What was a particular challenge that you overcame?

At the beginning of 2018, we began preparing for Carena Schlewitt's directorship and supporting her from a press and public relations perspective. Both visually with a new corporate design and the new website, as well as in communicating with the city and its citizens. It was an exciting and enriching time for me and my team. The coronavirus pandemic was also a huge challenge, as our programme had already been communicated when the lockdowns were announced and initially had to be cancelled. After that, in coordination with the programme team and the artists, we very quickly tried to present various online offers on the website and to be visible despite everything.
The highlight of this year was the image campaign of HELLERAU, which was on display in the city from May to June and in which we focused on the special features of HELLERAU. I'm very proud of the results because they put the organisation in the spotlight in a creative and critical way and provide good talking points.

What do you wish HELLERAU for the future?

I would like to see independent artists in the performing arts and music receive more support for their work. I would also like to see continued intensive networking and cooperation with all of our partners. After all, this exchange is precisely the reason why HELLERAU is able to offer such a diverse programme in the first place.