Sound artist
Ulrike Hethey, a graduate musician (Münster University of Music) and visual artist (Dortmund School of Art), specialized in sound art around 25 years ago. In addition to performing as a performance artist, she organizes improvisation courses using the voice and natural instruments in Germany and abroad. She sees the motivation for these courses as the need to intensify the sensory listening experience through creative music-making with earthy instruments and the voice, thus counteracting the ‘artificial’ consumption of music. Music is preferably played at ‘places of power’ in nature. The most spectacular location so far has been a secondary crater of Mount Etna.
Current performances
Reading with music
by Chris Inken Soppa and Ulrike Hethey
Konstanz-based author Ch. Soppa reads from her new book:
Leo Daly and James Joyce –
a literary journey through time
Soppa switched from science to short stories and novels. She heads the literature section of the Internationale Bodensee-Club (IBC art association).
Musician Ulrike Hethey will accompany the reading with Irish music on the guitar
on October 19, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the Städtische Galerie Fauler Pelz in Überlingen.
POETRY and SOUND
How light will earth be ……….
Vocal and instrumental improvisation with new natural sound instruments
(lithophones, copper harp, bronze cymbals and rods, gongs, xylophone, string fields, etc.)
Poems by Paul Celan, Nelly Sachs, Lobgesang 12th century.
Performers: Ulrike Hethey and Johannes Schröder
on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.
in the Catholic Church of Konolfingen, Inselistr.11, Bern (Switzerland)
Music performance accompanying a lecture on ‘Monsters’ as part of the Long Night of Books on November 22, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. in the museum hall in Überlingen.
Concerts
On Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 3 p.m., workshop concert:
THE FOUR ELEMENTS
Earth – Water – Air – Fire
LISTENING ROOM X VIEWING ROOM
Improvisation with natural sound instruments and voice
Sound artist: Ulrike Hethey (IBC ÜB)
Beat Weyeneth (CH)
At the Städtische Galerie Fauler Pelz in Überlingen
Free collection
Previous concerts
As part of the Festival for Old and New Music in Überlingen 2024
on November 16 at 4 p.m. in the Fauler Pelz Gallery
Poetry and sound — experimental contemporary music
Improvisation based on poems by N. Sachs and Paul Celan
vocal – instrumental with natural instruments:
bronze – iron – stone – wood – string
Ulrike Hethey and Johannes Schröder
Songs accompanied by guitar: a brief musical history of love
Folk songs, art songs, and songs from five centuries
on January 25, 2024, at 7 p.m.
as part of the Alsbach House Concerts in Bickenbach
Vita
| 1950 | Grew up near Dortmund |
| 1970 | State examination in art and music |
| 1976 | Diploma in classical guitar from the University of Music |
| in Münster under Prof. R. Evers | |
| 1978 | Waldorf teacher training in Witten |
| Studied improvisation with Pär Ahlbom | |
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES in Germany and abroad: | |
| 1972 | Lecturer: Guitar, University of Education |
| 1981 | Music teacher at schools in Germany, CH, NL |
| 1988 | – Moved to the Netherlands |
| 1992 | Lecturer in music education at vocational college |
| 1996 | Teacher training college in Wahlwies, |
| Odessa (Ukraine) and Palermo | |
| – Moved to Bodensee | |
| 2002 – 2017 | Guitar teacher in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |
| CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS | |
| 2012 – 2018 | Board member of the Thurgauer Schweizer Musikverband |
| (Swiss Music Education Association) | |
| 2009 – 2017 | Music teacher at the Waldorf School in |
| Catania (Italy) during the Swiss holidays | |
| 2002 – 2025 | Performances/courses as a sound artist |
| with voice and natural instruments | |
| at home and abroad in Italy and Switzerland | |
| 2019 – 2025 | Head of the music – Section of IBC, |
| Internationaler Bodensee-Club, Überlingen (International Art Club) |
Courses
Sunday, January 18, 2026, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Creative Workshop:
WITH VOICE and NATURAL SOUND INSTRUMENTS
Bronze cymbals and rods, gongs,
stone phones, claves, and more
Theme: THE FOUR ELEMENTS
ulrikehethey@yahoo.de, 01627264657
Everyone is welcome, no experience necessary!
Free collection
Recent courses
Impulse by Pär Ahlbom (student of Stockhausen) and Josef Beuys‘ idea of “social sculpture”:
Art = Humanity = Creativity = Freedom
Courses at symposia on J. Beuys in Achberg
2023 Summer Academy at Homburg Castle
Improvisation courses with professional musicians at the SMPV in Switzerland
Topics: Intuition and sound Poetry and sound, etc.
Improvisation courses in Umbria, Sicily, Tuscany
Topics include “The Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi”
‚Der Sonnengesang‘ by Franz von Assisi
‘Il Cantico delle Creature’
Music and singing workshop
Localita Rossulli 58 Reggello
May 18, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m
References
Some comments from participants in the course with music teachers at the Swiss Music Association in Baden (Aargau, Switzerland):
“Spontaneous souls—sounds and rhythms grounded in joyful hearts for open ears with a lasting effect.”
„Take the wonderful, vivid words of a great poet (Goethe or Ingeborg Bachmann, for example) and immerse yourself completely in this atmosphere with Ulrike Hethey. With her subtle exercises for hearing and feeling vibrations and sounds and for interaction, Ulrike leads us into the vast field of creativity and enables us to create music with our voices and natural instruments made of stone, wood, and metal that will resonate in our hearts for a long time to come. I will gladly participate for the third time, as this path touches and inspires me deeply.
Thank you very much, Ulrike!“ – Brigitta Dardel
“Ulrike Hethey brought along a wealth of instruments whose quality I thought I knew. Through her subtle guidance, the course group succeeded in eliciting unknown tones from these instruments. She pursued her goal of translating a literary story into sound with persistence and great skill. I am left with the memory of a magical sound.” – Barbara Zimmerli
Contact
Ulrike Hethey
Gradebergstr.1
D – 88662 Überlingen
Tel. 0049 162 7264657