Kate Eberstadt '09 Creates a Haven in Berlin

A place where children in the midst of wrenching upheaval can find inner peace and enjoy being young, if only for a little while.

Creating this has been the goal for the past several months of Kate Eberstadt '09. She has gathered in Berlin a team of dozens who work with refugees from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere — children ages 3 to 14. The youngsters know little about their future and cannot attend school, but for two hours, three times a week, they come together and unite their voices into a children's choir.

Eberstadt calls it the Hutto Project, as a nod to the lessons she learned at NCS from teacher Benjamin Hutto, who died last September.

She formed the project last fall after a discussion with her mother, Mary, about the "incomprehensible" refugee crisis in Germany. She decided, Eberstadt has written, that she would build "some kind of shelter for those who, in the throes of the storm, might not be seen and heard quite as clearly as they deserve." 

Later this spring, the choir will perform an original work in a public concert in Berlin. Other art forms, including theater and dance, will also be reflected in this performance. The project leaders also plan to develop the musical piece into a recorded work.

This is largely a volunteer undertaking, with assistance from the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. This month, it launched a crowd-funding campaign through Generosity.com. The project also has an active Facebook page with plenty of photos of the musicianship.

Eberstadt answered a few questions about the Hutto Project via email. A Q&A transcript follows:

A: Mr. Hutto was a remarkable educator who had visions for each of his students that far exceeded the visions we had for ourselves — both as musicians and as people. He firmly believed that everyone could sing and participate, regardless of skill level.

While other musicians of his caliber may have dismissed us as amateurish teenagers, he saw individual dignity in each of his students and, in doing so, allowed us to see this light in ourselves and in each other.

Our students are in a phase of their lives that is completely chaotic and unstructured. There are so many questions: Where will I live? When will I get there? When will I be able to enroll in school? Should my family and I even learn German, or will we just be sent back home?

In the midst of uncertainty, our project aims to provide these children with an opportunity to build something solid, among each other and within themselves. We are determined to hold them to a high standard of conduct and musicianship, and to push them to perform to the best of their abilities in a situation where many of the adults in their lives are not able to do so.

That said, participating in choir is not only about musicianship or virtuosity. Choral work creates a space to share one's voice and humanity in communion with others. Above all, I hope our project builds the kind of musical and spiritual kinship Mr. Hutto so naturally created in everything he did.

In this case, singing together is hopefully a way to combine all three.

The children in our choir are phenomenal listeners. They have to be. They live in a gymnasium, surrounded by eight languages at least. We are consistently amazed by how much they pick up around them, how fluidly they communicate. They have had to adapt to instability and exhibit resilience and strength beyond imagination.

I do not think it is ambitious to teach these children anything of which any other child is capable. What is necessary is teaching others how to listen — to them.

We are lucky enough to be in a circumstance where "work" never feels like work. Though the Hutto Project runs around the clock, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else than here, with these children, alongside this inspirational team of individuals from all over the world — including artists from the Robert Wilson's Watermill Center International Summer Program, Columbia University alumni, and also NCS alums Mary Emma Kingsley '09, Bridgette Zou '08, and Izzi Eberstadt '11.

Although there are no "typical" days on The Hutto Project, a typical day could be:

Art is a tool for communication. In its ability to transcend spoken language, art has the potential to bridge gaps that are otherwise insurmountable. Considering this, I believe it is the artist's responsibility to use this tool for good, to open others' eyes, to level the playing field.

Above all, we intend for our concert to act as a platform for these children to show what they have learned and feel proud of themselves, when they may not have many opportunities to enjoy the spotlight at this moment in time.

We hope our concert will allow the audience to see the choir members exactly as they are: young performers who have demonstrated discipline and courage in sharing their voices; no more, no less.

In doing so, we intend to open the minds of any in attendance who may be inclined to think otherwise.

Stay tuned!