ALPENGLOW - Styria meets UK
24. - 26. September 2010
London / UK


took place at:
:: The Vortex
:: Cafe OTO
:: St. Barnabas Church


PDF   Alpenglow - Flyer (581 KB)

Sound and Music

Alpenglow is an international improvised music summit mixing leading players from Styria in Austria with a wide range of top-draw musicians from the UK. Embracing a true spirit of experimentation, this extended weekend of performance will mix many artists who, until now, have never shared a stage together to create unexpected and unpredictable results.

What's it about?
Styria meets UK

Emerging from late 60s US and European free jazz and contemporary classical music scenes, freely improvised music has at its disposal the full spectrum of sonic experience from total noise to near absolute silence, from frenetic activity to glacial stillness and from focused solo performance to large group freakout.

Just as in relationships between groups and individuals, there is the potential for danger and conflict as well as for concord and harmony. First time encounters can be particularly unpredictable. Alpenglow is conceived as a volatile experiment: a meeting of players speaking many musical tongues, some sounding with Apollonian poise, others convulsing in Dionysian ecstasy. Setting forth with the ecumenical verve of an interstellar missionary collaboration between the Society of Friends and the Ranters, the fate of this expedition will be resolved before the public gaze.

As well as suckling comedy politician and seven-time Mr Olympia winner Arnold Schwarzenegger, Styria (the Austrian state surrounding Graz), has produced a dynamic breed of experimental musicians as yet unknown in UK circles. Alpenglow will bring these players en mass to London for a head-to-head with the best of our free improvisers. This event celebrates the common bonds this band of players share through the creation of spontaneous music.

Alpenglow takes place in Dalston, North London at the city's hub for experimental music Cafe Oto, and the capital's world-renowned jazz club The Vortex. British pianist and composer Veryan Weston and Austrian vocalist Annette Giesriegl, two of the leading figures in improvised music in their respective countries, have selected the artists performing over the weekend. The event will bring together 30 players drawn from across the spectrum of current approaches to improvised music performance in small group contexts and a large improvising orchestra led by the celebrated UK musician Steve Beresford.

Alpenglow is produced by Sound and Music, VNM, The Vortex and Cafe Oto and supported by The Austrian Cultural Forum London, The Cultural Department of the Styrian Government, the Cultural Department of The City of Graz, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, SKE Fonds.



Alpenglow 2010 press

⇒ Kleine Zeitung 29.09.2010

⇒ DerStandard 29.09.2010

⇒ Die Presse 29.09.2010

⇒ freistil Nr. 34 - 2010

⇒ concerto Ausgabe 6 - 2010

 
 

Alpenglow schedule
 

Christian Tschinkel will be providing electroacoustic interludes between performances tbc

Christian Tschinkel
Christian Tschinkel
 

Friday 24 Sept
 
Vortex   (doors - 19:00)
 

19:30
Elisabeth Harnik - piano
Gail Brand - trombone
Josef Klammer - percussion/electronics
Elisabeth Harnik
Elisabeth Harnik
Gail Brand
Gail Brand
Josef Klammer
Josef Klammer, photo: J. Klammer
 
20:20
Peter Lackner - piano 4 hands
Henrik Sande - piano
Hannah Marshall - cello
Peter Lackner
Peter Lackner
Henrik Sande
Henrik Sande
Hannah Marshall
Hannah Marshall
 
Oto
 

21:30
Heimo Puschnigg - piano
Manfred Stern - flute
Mark Wastell - tam-tam
Angharad Davies - violin
Heimo Puschnigg
Heimo Puschnigg
photo: J. Klammer
Manfred Stern
Manfred Stern
photo: J. Klammer
Mark Wastell
Mark Wastell
Angharad Davies
Angharad Davies
photo: Richard
Morris Pushinsky
 
22:20
Seppo Gruendler - guitar, electronics
James Dunn - curcuit bent electronics/tinnitus tester
Jane Dickson - inside piano

Seppo Gruendler
Seppo Gruendler
James Dunn
James Dunn
Jane Dickson
Jane Dickson
photo: Hewitt
 

Saturday 25 Sept
 
St. Barnabus Church   (doors 14:00)
Shacklewell Row
Dalston
London E8 2EA
 

14:30
Katherina Klement - strings, electronics
Klaus Lang - organ
Caroline Kraabel - alto sax
Katharina Klement
Katharina Klement
Klaus Lang
Klaus Lang
Caroline Kraabel
Caroline Kraabel
 
15:20
Mia Zabelka - violin
Maggie Nicols - voice
John Russell - guitar
Mia Zabelka
Mia Zabelka
photo: ORF-RadioKulturhaus
Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols
John Russell
John Russell
 
16:10
Annette Giesriegl - voice
Veryan Weston - organ
Allison Blunt - violin
Annette Giesriegl
Annette Giesriegl
Veryan Weston
Veryan Weston
Allison Blunt
Allison Blunt
photo: Julia Burstein
 
Vortex   (doors 19:00)
 

19:30
Andreas Weixler - computer
Se-Lien Chuang - piano, computer
Rowland Sutherland - flutes
Andreas Weixler
Andreas Weixler
Se-Lien Chuang
Se-Lien Chuang
Rowland Sutherland
Rowland Sutherland
 
20:20
Hannah Marshall - cello
Armin Pokorn - guitar
Martin Zrost - reeds
Steve Beresford - piano
Hannah Marshall
Hannah Marshall
Armin Pokorn
Armin Pokorn
Martin Zrost
Martin Zrost
Steve Beresford
Steve Beresford
 
Oto
 

21:30
Martin Zrost - reeds
Lee Patterson - field recordings, electronics
Martin Zrost
Martin Zrost
Lee Patterson
Lee Patterson
 
22:20
Michael Pinter-Koschell - computer
Gernot Tutner - computer, iphone
Hugh Metcalfe - guitar, poetry, drums, cabbagehead

Michael Pinter-Koschell
Michael Pinter-Koschell
Gernot Tutner
Gernot Tutner
Hugh Metcalfe
Hugh Metcalfe
 

Sunday 26 Sept
 
Oto   (doors 19:30)
 

20:00   (1 hour duration)
Full group
conducted by Steve Beresford