All posts filed under “Concerts”

Gratkowski / Tramontana “Instant Songs”

Instant Songs | Soundscapes & Soundportraits 2 | 17.3.2018

Samstag / Saturday 17 March 2018:  Concert, doors 8pm |

  • Frank Gratkowski (DE) Klarinette, Altsaxofon | clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Sebi Tramontana (IT) Posaune | trombone

Introduction: Carl Wilkens

Soundscapes & Soundportraits: Toolbox | German Finnish Art Space Berlin, Koloniestraße 120, 13359 Berlin Wedding (Google Maps) | U-Bahn Osloer Straße

For the English version, please scroll down


Gratkowski / Tramontana “Instant Songs”

Samstag  17. März 2018:  Konzert, Einlass 20 Uhr

  • Frank Gratkowski (DE) Klarinette, Altsaxofon | clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Sebi Tramontana (IT) Posaune | trombone

Einführung: Carl Wilkens

„Instant Songs“ ist Sebastiano Tramontanas und Frank Gratkowskis Begriff für die Musik, die sie in ihrem Duo spontan entstehen lassen: Ihre Improvisationen wirken oft wie kleine komponierte Lieder und zeichnen sich durch eine klare Struktur aus.

Einige haben wunderschöne Melodien, in anderen erklingen die Stimmen der Spieler oder sie nutzen erweiterte Spieltechniken wie Mehrklänge oder Geräuschhaftes. Einige sind sehr romantisch, andere wiederum sehr abstrakt. Immer geht es um den musikalischen Dialog mit einer erzählerischen Qualität, um spontane Lieder. Was Tramontana und Gratkowski an ihrem Duo besonders mögen, ist, dass die Musik sich sehr von ihren weiteren Projekten unterscheidet.

soundscapes & soundportraits 2

Frank Gratkowski (l), Sebi Tramontana (r), Photo: Christina Marx

Sebi Tramontana (Italien | Italy)

Musiker, Zeichner

Posaunist und Wahlmünchner Sebi Tramontana, bekannt als origneller Interpret und Komponist zwischen Jazz und neuer Musik sowie seit Jahren Mitglied der italienischen Allstar Formation Italian Instabile Orchestra. Zusammenarbeit unter anderem mit Mario Schiano, Frank Gratkowski, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lovens und Carlos Zingaro.

Gastierte in Europa, Japan, den USA und Kanada.

Frank Gratkowski (Deutschland | Germany)

Musiker, Komponist

Gratkowski erforscht Klänge und arbeitet stets an der Erweiterung seines Klangrepertoires und der Auslotung der Töne, die er auf seinen Instrumenten erzeugen kann. Besonders solo und in kleinen Besetzungen fällt die Klarheit seines Tones auf. Seine zum Teil mikrotonal orientierten Kompositionen führt er auch mit dem Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra auf.

Gratkowski spielt in einer Reihe von verschiedenen Ensemblen; darunter seit 1999 im Duo mit Sebi Tramontana. Er ist auf fast jedem deutschen und auf vielzähligen internationalen Jazz- und Neue-Musik-Festivals aufgetreten, darunter in Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Litauen, Warschau, Zagreb, Prag, Bratislawa, Sofia, Bukarest, Odessa, Huddersfield, London.

Er hat Saxofon und Ensemble an den Konservatorien in Köln, Berlin und Arnhem unterrichtet und gibt Workshops rund um die Welt.

Gratkowski lebt in Berlin.

Soundscapes & Soundportraits ist ein Projekt von Harri Sjöström

Photo: Christina Marx


Gratkowski / Tramontana “Instant Songs”

Saturday  17. März 2018:  Konzert, doors 20 Uhr

  • Frank Gratkowski (DE) Klarinette, Altsaxofon | clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Sebi Tramontana (IT) Posaune | trombone

Introduction: Carl Wilkens

“Instant Songs” is the term with which Sebastiano Tramontana and Frank Gratkowski describe the music played in their duo performances. The music is improvised but sounds very composed and each piece has its own unique character.

Some of them have beautiful melodies, others include the voices of the players or use extended techniques like multiphonics and noise. Some are very romantic, some very abstract. But it’s all about the musical dialogue and the instant composition of songs. What both players love in their duo is that the music is very different from the other projects they are involved in.

soundscapes & soundportraits 2

Frank Gratkowski (l), Sebi Tramontana (r), Photo: Christina Marx

Sebi Tramontana (Italien | Italy)

Musician, Graphic Artist

The trombonist is well-known as a musician with a unique style of interpretation, as a composer between jazz and contemporary classical music and also as a member of the Italian Allstar ensemble Instabile Orchestra. Collaborations with, among others, Mario Schiano, Frank Gratkowski, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lovens, and Carlos Zingaro.

He has played in Europe, Japan, the US, and Canada. Tramontana lives in Munich.

 

Frank Gratkowski (Deutschland | Germany)

Musician, Composer

Especially as when playing solo or in small ensembles the unusual clarity of his play is audible. Gratkowski is also known as being a talented researcher of sounds, who continuously works on the expansion of his sound repertory and on the exploration of tonal possibilities of his instruments. he performs his micro-tonally oriented compositions with the Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra.

Gratkowski plays in a number of ensembles, among these since 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana. He has played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz and contemporary music Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa, Huddersfield, London.

He has been teaching saxophone and ensembles at the Cologne, Berlin and Arnhem Conservatory of Music and is giving workshops all around the world.

Gratkowski lives in Berlin.

 

Soundscapes is a project by Harri Sjöström

More infos: www.soundscapesberlin.de

Special Thanks to:

inm -logo

 

soundscapes

Soundscapes & Soundportraits 1 | 22.1.2018

Montag / Monday 22 January 2018:  Concert, doors 8pm |

  • Matthias Bauer (contrabass)
  • Emilio Gordoa (vibraphone)
  • Dag Magnus Narvesen (drums)
  • Harri Sjöström (soprano & sopranino saxophone)
  • Phil Wachsmann (violine, electronics)

Live drawings: Lena Czerniawska

Welcome to our Soundscapes & Soundportraits Nr. 1: Live Improvisation, avant-garde, get-together, hear sounds you havn’t heard before in the  intimate atmosphere of Toolbox Finnish-German Art Space Berlin. |

Soundscapes is a project by Harri Sjöström

More infos: www.soundscapesberlin.de

Special Thanks to:

inm -logo

 

Tecla Gato

Tecla Gato feat. Hui-Chun Lin
12.1 at 8.30pm

Tecla Gato is formed by musicians from different generations of the improv scene in Buenos Aires. The concept suggested by their improvisations proposes the mixture of acoustic instruments with the addition of sound objects, electronics and processed voices. They often utilize in their performances graphic scores of their own creation as a blueprint for improvisations.

In this trio’s sound pursuit, the organic and the electronic blend together revealing textures where mutant, amorphous landscapes are suggested, that evoke an almost lovecraftian cosmology, creating kaleidoscopic moments and oneiric sensations.
Hue-Chun Lin is a cellist invited to perform with Tecla Gato.

Gustavo Obligado: sax, electronics, voices.
Caro Tierhs: violin, objects.
Pablo Vazquez: bass, electronics, voices.
Hui-Chun Lin: cello

Concert starts at 8.30pm. Duration of the concert will be approximately 40 minutes.

Fly

Finissage: Fake Laders
with Mother’s Nerves and
Improvised Sound Piece
22.10.2016

Finissage: Fake Laders | Ismo Hyvärinen

Start: 6pm and 7pm

Arja Kärkkäinen, 2016

Sound/video piece, 16:00 min

“Mother’s Nerves is a story told by a mother whose son is planning a suicide. The son
is struggling with the question of justification: why is he there to survive while the
other people should die. Who should die after all? The politically incorrect wish of a
destruction can be discussed from a child’s point of view, from its safe harbor. The
story is based on my own early childhood memory, a remark that I made in the
age of 5. I couldn’t understand why there was simultaneously a discussion about
overpopulation and grief for 100 people dying in an airplane accident. The point,
obviously, was that there should be less people and making people less should be
started from somewhere. Fair, until the roulette chooses someone you love.”

Arja Kärkkäinen is a Helsinki based installation artist who mainly works with video and
spatial installation. Kärkkäinen in her MA studies in the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki.


Start: 8pm

Improvised sound piece with Serge Modular synthesizer

Mika Hyytiä

“The piece will reflect aural and electrical happenings/non-happenings of the space. It aims to fixedly resonate and follow the very present – the ‘NOW’ moment. The outcome can be meditative and/or disorientating, but always mind manifesting.”

Mika Hyytiä is an underground sound artist – musician from Helsinki. Hyytiä’s main instrument is modular synthesizer and over the past 5 years, he has focused on improvisation-based performances around Finland in clubs, art galleries, and festivals. Hyytiä has released limited editions of cassettes and also recordings and releases in collaboration with several artists of highly variant outputs/approaches.


 

Toolbox – Finnisch-deutscher Projektraum, Koloniestraße 120

Invitation picture

Concert:
Blind Dates for Improvisers
15.10.2016

A group of improvisers based in different cities will gather in Galerie TOOLBOX Berlin to participate in a 2 hours performance. However, they won’t have any idea of who will play with who. No soundcheck, no preplanned line-up! Just a casual encounter among international improvisers will happen on the stage.

Start: Galerie TOOLBOX 15.10.2016 / 7pm

Come along to enjoy and be a witness to these blind dates!

  • Harri Sjöström
  • Klaus Kürvers
  • Leo Lehtinen
  • Rafael Martinez
  • Ivan Babinchak Renqvist
  • Ian Mikyska
  • Ulf Mengersen
  • Davide Piersanti
  • Sergio Castrillón & Elina Nissinen

BLIND DATES FOR IMPROVISERS intends to bring together artists interested in improvisation from various latitudes, backgrounds, and disciplines within different venues and arenas.

This project has been developed by Sergio Castrillón since 2015.

Musiker Foto

KAIKU DUO |
20.9.2016

KAIKU DUO is a traveling ensemble based on free improvisation.

Dienstag, 20. September 19:00 – 20:30

Since 2014 the duo has actively performed in Europe within different venues ranging from art galleries to the streets.
One of the main concerns of KAIKU DUO is to create a direct communication with the audience not only through their special sonic approach but also with their physical presence in the space.

Come along and be part of the experience!

FREE ENTRANCE!

sound scapes Poster

Sound Scapes Concert Nr. 14 | 29.9.2016

Improvisation-Concert Series Nr. 14

Donnerstag, 29. September 2016, 20 Uhr

Warmly welcome to our next concert with


 

Matthias Bauer | Kontrabass (Deutschland)
Emilio Gordoa | Vibrafon (Mexiko)
Mazen Kerbaj  | Trompete (Libanon)
Harri Sjöström | Sopran & Sopranino Sax (Finnland)

Image poster

Sound Scapes 12 | 28.4.2016

Sound Scapes Nr. 12

| Do, 28. April 2016, 20 Uhr
im Club der Polnischen Versager (Concert is not in Toolbox Gallery)

  • Lawrence Casserley | Signal Processing Instrument (UK)
  • DJ Illvibe |  turn tables
  • Jeffrey Morgan | alto clarinette (US)
  • Harri Sjöström | soprano & sopranino saxophone