Night Shifts 5
with Billy Bultheel
Performance Concert
5 September 2026, 8:30 pm
St. Nikolai Memorial, Hamburg
in cooperation with City Curator Hamburg
as part of FIRE. From the Cosmos to the Commons

In a world that seems to be coming apart, the darkness of history reverberates like an echo in the present. It finds a society suspended in sleep paralysis, while familiar sounds disappear from everyday life, voices fall silent, and the noise of polemics drowns out subtle tones. Collapse becomes a sonic condition.

For the fifth edition of Night Shifts, musician and performance artist Billy Bultheel presents the site-specific performance concert A Short History of Decay III at the St. Nikolai Memorial. The work is based on research into the systematic confiscation and melting down of church bells by the Nazi regime during the Second World War, when thousands of bells across Europe were requisitioned and recast as raw material for the armaments industry. The work considers bells both as musical instruments and as historical witnesses: with their disappearance, not only was a significant part of Europe’s material cultural heritage destroyed, but centuries of artisanal knowledge and unique sonic traditions were also lost. Bultheel’s performance connects these historical traces to a present in which the resurgence of fascism once again threatens democratic values. A Short History of Decay III resonates particularly strongly within the ruins of St. Nikolai Church, whose bells likewise fell victim to the World Wars and whose new carillon was installed only in 1993. Performed in dialogue with a six-person ensemble, the carillon – played by carillonneur Werner Lamm – becomes an integral part of Bultheel’s new composition. It moves between classical music and textural electro-acoustic works, combining baroque chamber instruments, guitar amps, and the lyrical vocal performance of post-industrial and early triphop.

Night Shifts activates sites across Hamburg where darkness can be experienced and explored through artistic practice. For centuries, sacred architecture has worked with the interplay of darkness and light. At the ruins of St. Nikolai Church in Hamburg’s city center, however, this choreography has been disrupted. Where vaulted ceilings once directed light and staged darkness as a space for contemplation, the building now stands open to the sky. Weather, daylight, and the changing atmosphere become immediate parts of the site.

Performers
voice, performance: Leah Marojević
flute, voice: Adam Sinclaire
viola da gamba: Kyran Riccardo Assing
double bass: Caleb Salgado
electronics: Andrea D’Arsiè
harmonium, piano, voice: Billy Bultheel
carillon: Werner Lamm

Libretto and Lyrics: Billy Bultheel, Edwin Nasr

Night Shifts 5 is realized in collaboration with the City Curator (Stadtkuratorin) and forms part of Hamburg Art Week (3–6 September 2026).

As a prologue to the performance on 5 September 2026, the carillon of the St. Nikolai Memorial is activated every Saturday at 8 pm with Bultheel’s composition Act I (Le rachat des cloches). The work is part of the exhibition FIRE. From the Cosmos to the Commons (21 June–21 September 2026), curated by Joanna Warsza, City Curator Hamburg.

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For the fifth installment of Night Shifts, musician and performance artist Billy Bultheel will present the concert A Short History of Decay III at the St. Nikolai Memorial.

Billy Bultheel will perform a concert in which six musicians play along to the sound of the carillon at the St. Nikolai Memorial. Billy Bultheel’s music blends old and new sounds. Ancient melodies meet electronic elements, fast rhythms, and heavy distortion.

The concert explores the history of church bells during World War II. At that time, the Nazi regime confiscated and melted down thousands of church bells across Europe. They used the metal to manufacture ammunition and weapons. While developing his composition, Billy Bultheel reflected on how this history connects to our present. He is interested in how democratic values are threatened today by a resurgent fascism. The ruins of St. Nikolai Church are a fitting venue for this performance: its bells, too, were lost during the world wars. It wasn’t until 1993 that the site received a new set of bells.

Night Shifts takes place at various locations in Hamburg that are associated with darkness. For centuries, darkness has also played an important role in churches. Church interiors direct the light and create dark areas for tranquility and reflection. In the ruins of St. Nikolai, it’s different. The building was destroyed and has been open on all sides ever since. The sky, the weather, and the time of day become an integral part of the space.