Padding and Scattering

On June 8, Saba Alizadeh from Tehran, Iran, gave his first of three solo concerts in Berlin. He first performed an electronic set, followed by an acoustic set on the kamancheh. Later that evening he was joined by author and music critic Josh Kun from Los Angeles and the Berlin-based electronic musician Farahnaz Hatam to discuss diasporic sounds, the role of music in nostalgic experiences among people living outside of Iran and – Tehrangeles.
The evening was hosted by Franziska Buhre. Photos by Esmail Habibi.

Saba Alizadeh’s Berlin concerts were kindly supported by the Goethe-Institut / Foreign Office.

„Diaspora. A talk with Saba Alizadeh, Josh Kun and Farahnaz Hatam“ weiterlesen

The festival took place on the 22nd and 23rd of June in the Salon am Moritzplatz in Berlin. It presented contemporary music creations by Berlin-based musicians from Iran in new artistic encounters. Persian instruments could be discovered in new sound environments, the voice was heard with storytelling and singing in several languages. The variety of remembered and anticipated sounds unfolded into a magnificent fabric that the musicians and listeners tied together.

„Klangteppich. Festival for music of the Iranian diaspora“ weiterlesen

[English version below]

Das Festival präsentiert gegenwärtiges Musikschaffen von in Berlin lebenden Musiker_innen aus dem Iran in neuen künstlerischen Begegnungen. Persische Instrumente sind in neuen Klangumgebungen zu entdecken, die Stimme erklingt in Erzählungen und Gesang in mehreren Sprachen. Die Mannigfaltigkeit erinnerter und vorausgehörter Klänge entfaltet sich zu einem prachtvollen Gewebe, das die Musiker_innen und Hörenden gemeinsam zusammenknüpfen.

In der ersten Festivalausgabe ist die Tar als Solo-Instrument, im Verbund mit Live-Visuals und als Gefährtin von Cello, Klarinette, Ney und Perkussion zu erleben, Kamancheh und Tabla begeben sich auf die Pfade der Seidenstraße. Die Ornamentik klassischen persischen Gesangs oszilliert in digitaler Klangsynthese, Erzählungen auf Aserbaidschanisch und Türkisch treten in einen Dialog mit zeitgenössischen Interpretationen persischer Lyrik. In elektronischen Klangschichten schließlich, finden die Rhythmen von Tonbak und Daf ihren Widerhall.

„presents: Klangteppich“ weiterlesen

bohemian drips. & Mellowtown present:
Walls Will Fall × The 49 Trumpets of Jericho
a site-specific composition by Mazen Kerbaj
at the old water reservoir of Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg

Walls Will Fall is the world premiere of a site-specific composition by the musician, cartoonist and composer Mazen Kerbaj. It guides 49 Berlin trumpeters through the large water reservoir in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.

„presents: Walls Will Fall. The 49 trumpets of Jericho“ weiterlesen

Let’s not forget that many of us take it as a given to be sitting in a gender-mixed audience, listening to a single female voice.

Let’s not forget about the joy of dancing together in public.

Let’s not forget about the freedom to give concerts, without having to ask for a permit from an institution.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, we hereby present some female role models from the music of Iran.

„International Women’s Day: Role models from Iran“ weiterlesen

Tyshawn Sorey (*1980) is a composer, performer, educator, scholar, percussionist, trombonist, and pianist from Newark/USA. He currently lives and works in New York. He completed his doctoral studies at Columbia University this year and has taken up a professorship at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut in September, a position once held by his mentor, the composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton.
Sorey is a 2017 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship for “assimilating and transforming ideas from a broad spectrum of musical idioms and defying distinctions between genres, composition, and improvisation in a singular expression of contemporary music.” He has been Artist in Residence at this year’s Jazzfest Berlin. In the interview he talks about and being limited to a jazz drummer, his experiences in marching bands and the benefits of cookware.

Photos: Camille Blake

„To create a context for a living organism: Tyshawn Sorey“ weiterlesen

A drum kit consists of big and small drums and cymbals. At least on paper. But in reality we see highly individualized drum kits that can reveal the most fascinating stories about the musicians playing them. So here is your turn: just match the right drum kit with the right drummer. You can win a tambourine by SONOR as a reward for your speculation.  Because it is never too late to learn a musical instrument.

„to unriddle drum kits“ weiterlesen

Myriam Van Imschoot makes performances, creates sound poetry and vocal pieces, exhibits video and sound installations. She holds a unique position in the Belgian art field, moving between institutional fields and media, with a keen interest to experiment with contexts when not creating her own. After a nine-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Myriam Van Imschoot presented Yodel Portrait Phil Minton, a new film on the British singer and living legend Phil Minton in early 2017. Van Imschoot had an international breakthrough with the vocal and radiophonic performance What Nature Says (2015), which will be shown in Berlin, October 4–5 at Hebbel am Ufer, HAU3.

In the interview, she talks about human sounds without using the vocal cords, her interest in yodeling and she denominates the detriment of our living sound archives.

„What Nature Says: Myriam Van Imschoot“ weiterlesen

Marte Röling (*1939) is a painter and sculptor from The Netherlands. She learned to draw from her father Gé Röling, who was also her teacher at the Rijksakademie (The Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam). From her mother, the painter Martine Antonie (Grolle), she learned in essence to look through things to the very core of the visible world.
Röling experienced success from a very young age. She was renowned for her fashion drawings for newspaper Het Parool, which have reached a number of over 1000 in 12 years. In the 1960s, Alan Bates, then representing the Dutch Label Fontana Records, commissioned Röling to design a series of album covers for avant-garde jazz releases.
In the interview, Marte Röling talks about her inspirations, a yellow ear and her surprise about her covers being exhibited in record stores.

„Marte Röling on her record covers“ weiterlesen

We’re happy to announce the first Berlin concert of Brazilian vocalist Grazie Wirtti with Matias Arriazu from Argentina on 8-string guitar.

Premiered in Germany by Johanna Bock.

Proudly presented at Salon am Moritzplatz in Berlin.

„Presents: Grazie Wirtti (BR) & Matias Arriazu (ARG)“ weiterlesen