The Bundestag member Moosdorf has recently been teaching at a music college in Moscow. The fact that she is close to the Kremlin is not a thorn in the side of the AfD politician.
Berlin/Moscow – Matthias Moosdorf, foreign policy spokesman for the AfD in the Bundestag, looks back on a career as a professional musician in addition to his political career. The Leipzig native (born in 1965) trained as a cellist in 1986 as part of his studies at the “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” music college there, which he completed in 1991. Moosdorf has been a member of the AfD since 2016 and has been the party’s foreign policy spokesman in the Bundestag since 2021.
His background as a professional musician has now enabled the AfD politician to take on a new professional commitment. Like the news portal T Online reported, in addition to his political office in the Bundestag, Moosdorf recently also held an honorary professorship at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow. The music college is considered the most prestigious institution of its kind in Russia. She is close to the Kremlin and represents its positions externally even in times of war.
AfD politician Moosdorf wants to send a “sign of understanding” with his commitment in Moscow
Moosdorf has been working as an honorary professor at the Gnessin Institute (GRAM) in Moscow since September. The AfD politician commented on a corresponding report from T Onlineafter which he confirmed his commitment to the internationally renowned Moscow university. As part of his musical career, he has repeatedly held guest professorships, said the 59-year-old trained cellist.
Being offered an honorary professorship at the Moscow Gnessin Institute reflects and honors his work as a globally active chamber musician, emphasized the AfD politician. He also wanted to send a “sign of understanding” with his new position in Russia. “Music knows no ideological boundaries,” says Moosdorf T Online quoted further. The terms of the contract are currently still open, but are based on internationally accepted remuneration for guest professorships in the field of music. According to the report, “usual fees” would be paid.
In September, the cellist and AfD politician was in Moscow for three days and gave “a kind of inaugural lecture” at the music college, according to the report T Onlinereport further shows. Now he is planning to visit the Russian capital As part of his honorary professorship, he visits “once a quarter for several days” to teach the chamber music ensemble there.
The Gnessin Institute made international headlines in 2018 due to repression
The Moscow Music Academy, named after the Russian composer Mikhail Gnessin (1883-1957), has often made headlines in the international media in the past due to political influence and supposedly propagandistic activities. How Scholars at Risk – an international network of academic institutions based in the USA – reported, including in the case of former student Sofya Kardash.
On December 24, 2018, Russian authorities and a university administrator at the Gnessin Academy allegedly intimidated the student and threatened her with legal action such as expulsion from the university. The aim was apparently to deter Kardash from participating in protest activities through increased pressure – a political instrument that is often used in Russia.
Kardash is said to have taken part in a series of protests denouncing Russia’s pension reform and the resignation of then Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was confirmed in office in March of the same year. was requested. Kardash was reportedly arrested by representatives of Russian authorities on October 6, 2018 in connection with her participation in one of the protests. About a week later, the GRAM vice president asked the student to stay away from the protests.
Is the Gnessin Institute in Moscow a training ground for cadres? That’s how close she is to the Kremlin
In classical music scene circles, the Gnessin Academy is definitely considered a kind of training ground for talent T Online Other media also reported unanimously. In addition to the headlines surrounding student Kardash, the Moscow University of Music was again in the focus of international media two and a half years ago. This is what the broadcaster reports German wave of a case that occurred on March 7, 2022 – the twelfth day of the Ukrainian War – in the halls of the Moscow Academy.
When students from the renowned music school show up for the Gnessin Chamber Orchestra’s rehearsal that day, they are greeted by an atypically dressed conductor and school director Mikhail Khokhlov. Khoklov wore a black hoodie that prominently displayed the following in bright white: the letter “Z,” symbol of Putin’s “special military operation,” as the war against Ukraine was to be called in Russia from the start.
The reason for Khoklov’s choice of clothing that day was a video that was supposed to be made in support of Russian colleagues who had lost their jobs in the West at the time because of their Russian citizenship. Khoklov explained to the young people that a video should be made to support the Russian colleagues who are now losing their jobs in the West because of their Russian citizenship. It was on the music stands DW according to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, also known as the “Fate Symphony”. Just a week later, an almost seven-minute video was released, but it is no longer available online. The DW According to him, it was titled “MuZical Sacrifice,” again alluding to the Z symbolism.
In 2022, a political incident at the Gnessin Institute also caused a lot of criticism
Roman Mints, star violinist and graduate of the Gnessin Institute, criticized Khoklov’s involvement and the video shoot as “horrible manipulation” like that DW reported. “For me, this case is unfortunately significant: our school is, in a sense, the Russian state in miniature,” emphasized Mints at the time. According to the report, parents of the students also vehemently criticized in chat groups that their children had apparently been used for political purposes at the music academy.
For the AfD member of the Bundestag and trained cellist Moosdorf, the past political aspirations of the Gnessin Academy do not seem to be an obstacle to his current honorary professorship. “I cannot see any political orientation of the Gnessin Academy,” emphasized Moosdorf loudly T Online. He also stated: “I’m not interested in it either.” His work as a teacher applies “exclusively to music as a global language of reconciliation and understanding.” (fh)
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