In November 2024, Judith Hamann performed a solo cello set to celebrate the completion of Grünow's 700th anniversary month. 

Judith Hamann is a composer/performer/improviser born in Australia who lives and works in Berlin. Described as an “extraordinary Australian cellist” (The Guardian), and as a composer who “destroys the fiction of the musician who lives and works outside conventional parameters and puts in its place a series of compositions that are fundamentally humane” (Louise Grey, WIRE Magazine), their work encompasses performance, improvisation, electro-acoustic composition, field recording, electronics, site specific generative work, and micro-tonal systems in a deeply considered process based, or even "nomadic" approach to creative practice.

Currently their work is focused on an examination of expressions and manifestations of "shaking" in solo performance practice, a collection of new works for cello and humming, and ongoing research surrounding collapse and the de-mastering of instrumental practice.

Judith has studied contemporary classical repertoire with renowned cellists including Charles Curtis and Séverine Ballon, as well as developing a strong practice in improvisation and sonic arts through collaborative projects both in Australia and internationally.  

The jazz quartet Henkel–Carlson–Sundland–Hall recorded their upcoming album at the ZZM.

Brad Henkel and Dustin Carlson, long-time collaborators from the United States, joined forces with drummer Sam Hall (Australia) to create the trio Recoil. Their music recalls the rock-tinged improvised music from early 2000s NYC, the trumpet harmonizer world of Jon Hassell, and Berlin's experimental Echtzeitmusik scene. After releasing two albums Recoil (Aut Records 2023) and Kreiseziehen (Aut Records 2024), they added Norwegian bassist Dan Peter Sundland and recorded their upcoming album at the ZZM.

Brad Henkel (trumpet, effects), Dustin Carlson (electric guitar), Dan Peter Sundland (electric bass) & Samuel Hall (drums, electronics) 

Max Eilbacher's work with sound materializes in a variety of forms; compositions, musical performances, conceptual systems, perceptual choreography, installations and theoretical sculpture. No matter how the final work may be categorized, the art typically utilizes speakers and sound waves. A frequent concern throughout the works is an inquiry into the inextricable and complex relationship between sound and experience. At each incident of sound, a phenomenologically abyss must be transversed. He is aware the listener is the agent taking such a leap. Composition (or whatever may be emanating from a speaker) is the practical enactment of such a leap.

Sarah Saviet used the ZZM's acoustically treated rooms to prepare material for the courses she will lead at Darmstadt this summer. Sarah is a violinist dedicated to the performance of contemporary music. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician and is a member of the Saviet/Houston Duo and Ensemble Mosaik.

Sarah’s debut solo album SPUN (Coviello Contemporary) was recently nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for new music.  She has also released on all that dust and another timbre, and her recording of Liza Lim’s violin concerto Speak, Be Silent, with the Riot Ensemble on HCR/NMC records was selected as one of New Yorker Magazine’s Best Recordings of 2019.

Sarah will lead the violin studio at the 2025 Darmstadt Summer courses. From Autumn 2025 Sarah will hold the position of associate professor for violin and viola in the Masters for Contemporary Music program at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Manuel Pessoa de Lima was in residence at ZZM to work on his forthcoming LP The Failed Pianist, the followup to his 2020 release Realejo on Black Truffle. de Lima is a Brazilian performer-composer, usually performing with piano, electronics and speech monologues to unravel a mesh of fictional and biographical narratives, highlighting the conflicts and doubts around the creative process.