Festival: 31. 10 + 01. 11. 2023, doors 18:30, concerts 19:00–22:00
Ticket price: (reduced prices only on box office)
normal for one day 20 €, reduced 15€
normal for two days 34 €, reduced 25 €
max 120 seats per day available
Location: silent green (Kuppelhalle) Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin
The SoundScapes #4 festival on 31 October and 1 November 2023 presents 19 renowned international musicians of contemporary improvised music on two concert evenings in the Kulturquartier silent green in Berlin-Wedding. The musicians will play in a wide variety of formations, up to a maximum of tutti, with the line-up changing about every 15 minutes.
Ensemble
Celebrated pioneers and legendary innovators of Instant Composing meet virtuoso musicians and composers of the international avant-garde music scene of younger generations in intensive musical encounters. Examples of this are the Present-Time-Composition pioneers Philipp Wachsmann and Giancarlo Schiaffini as well as – for the middle and younger generations – John Edwards, Veli Kujala, Elisabeth Harnik and Liz Allbee.
Musicians
Liz Allbee, trumpet
Sergio Armaroli, vibraphone
Tony Buck, drums, percussion
Andrea Centazzo, drums and electronics
John Edwards, double bass
Frank Gratkowski, alto saxophone, clarinet, bass/contrabassclarinet, flute
Elisabeth Harnik, piano
Elena Margarita Kakaliagou, french horn
Giancarlo Schiaffini, trombone
Livia Schweizer, flute
Liz Kosack, synthesizer
Veli Kujala, accordion, microtonal accordion
Olavi Louhivuori, drums
Libero Mureddu, piano, keyboards
Guilherme Rodrigues, cello
Harri Sjöström, soprano and sopranino saxophone
Sebastiano Tramontana, trombone
Philipp Wachsmann, violin, electronics
Els Vandeweyer, vibraphone
Instant Composing
Instant Composing exclusively uses free improvisation.
The musicians see themselves as composers-performers and use an extensive, continuously expanding spectrum of sounds, noises and contemporary playing techniques, as well as sometimes individually extended or prepared instruments.
Instant composing processes are always unpredictable and offer diverse possibilities for new experiences of listening and perception. They demand the highest musicality and the unconditional willingness to create and celebrate an orchestral ensemble sound.
10 years of SoundScapes
Harri Sjöström, initiator and artistic director of the concert and festival series SoundScapes, has initiated numerous musical projects in the field of contemporary improvised music during his 40 years in Berlin and has collaborated with many outstanding and world-renowned avant-garde musicians. His aim was and is to provide a platform for the exchange of international Instant Composing musicians of different generations and to raise awareness of this art form.
The SoundScapes concert series has been taking place since 2013 with several concerts a year at different venues in Berlin. 2016, 2018, 2021 SoundScapes festivals have been realized in Helsinki and Munich.
The location: silent green
The venue for the SoundScapes #4 festival is the multi-award-winning cultural quarter silent green. Built between 1909 and 1911 as a crematorium and used as such from 1912 to 2001, the building complex was listed in 1995 and subsequently renovated. Since 2015, silent green has provided a venue for a wide variety of cultural events.
The musicians perform in the Kuppelhalle, an octagonal building with very special architecture and a unique atmosphere, the heart of the building complex.
The Kulturquartier has already received awards in 2019, 2020 and 2021 for the preservation of historical monuments, for sustainability, for project development and for the successful conversion of the buildings.