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SATOKO FUJII (JP)

Pianist and composer SATOKO FUJII, “an improviser of rumbling intensity and generous restraint” (Giovanni Russonello, New York Times), is one of the most original voices in jazz today. For more than 25 years, she has created a unique, personal music that spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical, rock, and traditional Japanese music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. “Fujii’s music troubles the divide between abstraction and realism. . . . All of this amounts to abstract expressionism, in musical form. But it’s equaled by her rich sense of simplicity, sprung from the feeling that she is simply converting the riches of the world around her into music,” writes Giovanni Russonello in the New York Times.

A prolific composer for ensembles of all sizes and a performer who has appeared around the world, she was the recipient of a 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music, in recognition of her “artistic intelligence, independence, and integrity.” Her talent as a big band composer, arranger, and leader have been recognized numerous times in DownBeat Critics Polls. The New York City Jazz Record has twice named her Artist of the Year. In 2021, El Intruso named her Pianist of the Year.

Since she burst onto the scene in 1996, Fujii has led and recorded with some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music. She recorded her 100th CD as leader or co-leader live in concert in September 2022. To mark the milestone, she wrote a new suite, Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams, featuring trumpeters Wadada Leo SmithandNatsuki Tamura, tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, electronics artist Ikue Mori, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummers Tom Rainey and Chris Corsano.

Among the groups she led are a piano trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black (1997-2009), and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins (2001-2008). In addition to a wide variety of small groups of different instrumentation, Fujii also performs in a duo with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, with whom she’s recorded eight albums since 1997. She and Tamura are also one half of the international free-jazz quartet Kaze, which has released five albums since their debut in 2011.

Fujii has established herself as one of the world’s leading composers for large jazz ensembles, prompting Cadence magazine to call her “the Ellington of free jazz.” Since 1996, she has released a steady stream of acclaimed albums for jazz orchestras and in 2006 she simultaneously released four big band albums: one from her New York ensemble, and one each by three different Japanese bands. In 2013 she debuted the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Chicago at the Chicago Jazz Festival and two years later debuted the new Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin.

With 2016 marking her 20th year in creative music, Fujii performed concerts once a month in cities around the world, including solo concerts and with her duo with Tamura performed with special guests. She also presented performance with small and large ensembles.

During her 60th birthday year in 2018, a milestone known as Kanreki in Japan, Fujii celebrated by releasing one new CD a month. In keeping with the Kanreki tradition of reflecting on the past while looking to the future, the 12 albums included releases by groups that Fujii has led or been part of for years, such as Kaze, Orchestra Berlin, and Orchestra Tokyo, as well as new groups and collaborations with Australian keyboardist Alister Spence; Mahobin, a cooperative quartet featuring Lotte Anker, Ikue Mori, and Tamura; and a new trio, This Is It!

In addition to playing accordion in Tamura’s Gato Libre, she pursues a fruitful collaboration with bassist Joe Fonda. Together, the duo has released five recordings, sometimes adding guests like Tamura and Gianni Mimmo. In 2019, she recorded Confluence, an album of intimate, highly interactive duets with drummer Ramon Lopez.

When the pandemic forced her to stay home for more than a year, she remained musically active, converting her home practice room into a recording studio and producing her seventh solo album, Hazuki; and a duet with Tamura, Keshin. She also collaborated by swapping sound files over the Internet, releasing the duet albums Prickly Pear Cactus with Ikue Mori; Thread of Light with bassist Joe Fonda; and Underground by Futari, her duo project with vibraphonist Taiko Saito. She also explored the use of computer editing to shape a solo release, Piano Music.

“Whether performing with her orchestra, combo, or playing solo piano, Satoko Fujii points the listener towards the future of music itself,” writes Junichi Konuma in Asahi Graph. Fujii’s ultimate goal: “I would love to make music that no one has heard before.”

https://satokofujii.com/wp_site/

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NATSUKI TAMURA (JP)

“Tamura controls the tone of his trumpet at will and he has entered territory that no one has ever explored.” ― Masahiro Imai, Musen to Jikken
“…sounds that elevate, startle and thrill.” ― Jerry D’Souza, All About Jazz
“As for trumpeter Natsuki Tamura – call him a sky-writer.” — Jim Macnie, The Village Voice

Japanese trumpeter and composer Natsuki Tamura is internationally recognized for a unique musical vocabulary that blends jazz sophistication, folk music melodicism, and extended techniques. This unpredictable virtuoso’s seemingly limitless creativity led François Couture in All Music Guide to declare that “… we can officially say there are two Natsuki Tamuras: The one playing angular jazz-rock or ferocious free improv… and the one writing simple melodies of stunning beauty… How the two of them live in the same body and breathe through the same trumpet might remain a mystery.”

Born in Otsu, Shiga, Japan, on July 26, 1951, Tamura studied at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory in Boston. He made his debut recording as a leader in 1992 on Tobifudo with a quartet featuring pianist Satoko Fujii.

In 1997 he released the duo album How Many? (Leo Lab) with Fujii, who is also his wife. It marked the beginning of an artistic collaboration that continues to the present day. The duo has made a total of eight CDs over the years, including 2021’s Keshin (Libra). Tamura’s collaborations with Fujii reveal an intense musical empathy, and have garnered wide popular and critical acclaim. Kurt Gottschalk writes in the New York City Jazz Record that their rapport, “feels like a secret language, spoken quietly perhaps while laughing loudly…It’s rare to sense this level of intuition between musicians.”

In 1998 Tamura began recording his unaccompanied solo performances. His solo trumpet debut, A Song for Jyaki (Leo Lab)earned a Writers Choice 1998 in Coda magazine. He followed it up in 2003 with KoKoKoKe (Polystar/NatSat), which Jon Davis described in Exposé as “Buddhist chants from an alien planet.” Describing 2013’s Dragon Nat (Libra), author Grego Applegate Edwards said, “he pares down to focus on simple unwinding melodic material, the sound of his trumpet as a sensuous thing, … a kind of environmental tone poem…” In 2021, he celebrated his 70th birthday with Koki Solo (Libra), which Karl Ackermann in All About Jazz described as “quirky fun in an age of uncertainty.”

2003 was a breakout year for Tamura as a bandleader, with the release of Hada Hada (Libra), featuring his free jazz-avant rock quartet with Fujii on synthesizer. Peter Marsh of the BBC had this to say about the high voltage CD: “Imagine Don Cherry woke up one morning, found he’d joined an avant goth-rock band and was booked to score an Italian horror movie. It might be an unlikely scenario, but it goes some way to describing this magnificent sprawl of a record.” The quartet’s 2004 Quartet release Exit (Libra) was deemed “…a brilliantly executed set with a neon glow,” by Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz.

In 2005, Tamura made a 180-degree turn in his music with the debut of his all acoustic Gato Libre quartet. Focusing on the intersection of European folk music and sound abstraction, the quartet featured Fujii on accordion, Kazuhiko Tsumura on guitar, and Norikatsu Koreyasu on bass. Rick Anderson of CD Hotlist praised the quartet’s poetic, quietly surreal performances for their “surprisingly soft and lyrical beauty that at times borders on flat-out impressionism.” Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz described their fourth CD, Shiro (Libra), as “intimate, something true to the simple beauty of the folk tradition… the prettiest, most accessible of his endeavors.” After the unexpected passing of Norikatsu in 2012, Tamura added trombonist Yasuko Kaneko to the group. The new configuration released its debut recording, DuDu (Libra), in 2014. “DuDu follows the winning formula of its predecessors but, as with the other discs, eschews the formulaic. The result is another sublimely satisfying, elegant record that brims with raw excitement and a reflective nostalgia,” writes Hrayr Attarian in All About Jazz. With the tragic death of guitarist Kazuhiko Tsumura, Gato Libre is now a trio. They released their second CD, Koneko (Libra), in 2020. Writing in the New York City Jazz Record, Tyran Grillo called it, “a minimal and delightful context for the patient charm of Tamura’s compositions. By turns mysterious and whimsical, improvisational elements bring out the rapport of the trio, one built on deep listening, while prewritten material exploits their ability to hone in on what is most essential.”

In 2010, Tamura returned to avant rock and free jazz with First Meeting, a new electric quartetfeaturing Fujii, drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and electric guitarist Kelly Churko. Their first release, Cut the Rope (Libra), “is a noisy, free, impatient album, and ranks among Fujii and Tamura’s most accomplished,” according to Steve Greenlee in the Boston Globe.

While fronting his own groups and recording as a leader, Tamura has also played an integral role in nearly all of Satoko Fujii’s many projects. He is featured on all of the CDs by Satoko Fujii’s various orchestras (NY, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Berlin) and has contributed original compositions and arrangements to each of their critically celebrated albums. In addition, he was featured on seven of the 12 albums that Fujii released in 2018 in celebration of her 60th birthday.

Tamura is a vital member of Fujii’s Min-Yo Ensemble, as well. “Tamura tempers his avant-garde antics with an innate lyricism,” wroteSteve Smith of Time Out New York in his review of Fujin Raijin (VICTO), the intimate acoustic quartet’s debut CD. He’s also been singled out for his contributions to Fujii’s ma do ensemble. “With Tamura’s brash and glowing lines, the band incorporates mesmeric ostinatos and thrusting opuses into the grand schema,” Glenn Astarita wrote in Ejazznews about their first CD, Desert Ship (Not Two).

Collaborative groups also play an important role in Tamura’s career. Most recently, Tamura joined Fujii and master French composer-improvisers, trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer Peter Orins, to form the collective quartet Kaze. Now with five CDs to their credit since their recording debut in 2011, Kaze “redefines listening to music, redefines genres, redefines playing music.” (Stef Gjissels, Free Jazz Blog). For their fifth album, Desert Storm (Libra), Kaze invited laptop artist Ikue Mori to join them. Writing in All About Jazz, John Sharpe called it a “well-judged amalgam of adventurous and empathetic ensemble playing, and striking individual flight.”

Tamura has also contributed to a number of one-off cooperative groups, and appeared many times as a sideman. In the Tank, an ad hoc quartet with Fujii andelectric guitarists Takayuki Kato and Elliott Sharp, is a “triumphant electro-acoustic adventure” according to Daniel Spicer of Jazzwise. Other highlights include Aspiration (Libra), a 2017 release featuring Tamura with Wadada Leo Smith, Satoko Fujii, and Ikue Mori, which Ivan A. Matzner in All About Jazz described as an endeavor that “forces hyper-close listening which is rewarded by being transported into a multi-layered universe of sound.” In 2014 Tamura released Nax (Creative Sources), a duet album with bassist Alexander Frangenheim. He is also featured on the 2020 trio release, Mantle (Not Two) with Fujii and drummer Ramon Lopez. DownBeat writer Ivana Ng called it “a dynamic partnership that charts new territory in creative music.”

Tamura also toured and recorded with saxophonist Larry Ochs’ Sax and Drumming Core, and appeared on albums by drummer Jimmy Weinstein, saxophonist Raymond McDonald, the Wandering Sound Quintet, and CDs by Japanese free-jazz pioneers trumpeter Itaru Oki and pianist Masahiko Sato.

“You’ll never fit trumpeter Natsuki Tamura into any pre-fab category,” wrote Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz. “He creates his own, then pulls you into them with him.” It is this category-defying ability that makes him, as Marc Chenard said in Coda, “unquestionably one of the most adventurous trumpet players on the scene today.”

https://natsukitamura.com

photo: Ryan Wijayratne

HANIA MARIAM LUTHUFI (LK)

is a vocalist, composer and music educator from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her interest in using the voice began with quirath (also spelled qirat) in her childhood, choral music in school; later, she moved to exploring and receiving informal training in jazz vocals. Hania is also a graduate of Calcutta University obtaining a Master's degree in Hindustani classical music and a Bachelor's degree at Viswa Bharati University in Santiniketan and stayed on in Bengal for five more years to study under the apprenticeship of her former teacher Shantanu Bhattacharyya. Luthufi's recent work comprises of abstract, cinematic compositions exploring the vast possibilities of drone music.
Her last album invited a gathering of musicians from disparate coastal regions to come together and musically interpret various temperaments of the sea. At present she is working on an EP of Raga music as digital and visual interpretations. This body of work is being done as her current research as a resident of Cité internationale des arts in Paris, where she is based at the moment.
Hania is also researching dialects of Arabic and Tamil through archiving lost devotional songs from fishing communities in the coastal regions of Sri Lanka. More recently, Hania’s works were a part of ‘Sea Change’, Colomboscope 2019, curated by Natasha Ginwala. She has also contributed to ‘Held Apart Together’, a digital program for Colomboscope 2021, Chobi Mela Festival in Bangladesh in 2021 and Colomboscope "Language is Migrant" 2022.

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TAM THI PHAM (VN)

is a Vietnamese multimedia composer, improviser and performer living in Hamburg. She completed her Bachelor of Musicology at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, a program in New Compositional Techniques at the University of Music and Theater Hamburg with Prof. Helmut Erdmann and is currently enrolled in Master in Multimedia Composition with Prof. Dr. Georg Hajdu, Prof. Dr. Gordon Kampe and Prof. Dr. Alexander Schubert.
Her works are a journey of exploring individuality in an attempt to connect with the surrounding social environment. She is trying to build a way of expression in which music and performance are two indivisible parts.
Tam Thi Pham plays electronic music, objects and Dan Bau (traditional Vietnamese instrument). One of her main interests is working with choreographers and dancers both as an improviser and as a composer. One aspect of this made networked music performance a focus of her current works (2020-), with the “2×2 WindowS” project (a collaboration with Japanese dancer Minori Sumiyoshiyama) garnering a lot of attention in Asia (Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia) and her “here&there” project being awarded funding and support from Goethe Institute in Hanoi. Another big interest of Tam Thi Pham lies in microtonal music, which she sees as both an expressive element and a research tool, helping her immerse herself into the rich culture of traditional Vietnamese music and transform it into a new, contemporary language and forms.
Besides her activities as a composer and a performer, she was also very active as an organizer of various discussions on contemporary music and art and concerts in Hanoi and Hamburg. She has also been participating at festivals in Vietnam, Germany, Japan, Indonesia and Serbia. such as: “Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival”, Hanoi, 2014; “Hanoi New Music Festival”, Hanoi, 2013 and 2018; “Beyond Sound” – a series of concerts of experimental music, Heritage space, Hanoi; 2016, 2017 and 2018; “Dance and music camp” with composer Heine Goebbels, Hanoi 2018; “New Music Festival”, Lüneburg, 2016, 2018 – 2021; “Blurred edges” festival, Hamburg, 2019, 2021; “41. International study week for contemporary music”, Hamburg, 2019 ; “next_generation 8.0 and 8.5” festival, Karlsruhe, 2019 and 2021; “Dance fest” Hanoi, 2019; “46.New Music Festival-Portrait Concert: Tam Thi Pham” at HfMT, Hamburg, 2020; Misch Masch festival, NPO Dance Box, Japan 2021; Exhibition “Zemljišta: situacije i dokumenta” (EN: “Grounds: situations and documents) at Gallery ”Jovan Popović” in Opovo, Serbia, 2021; “here&there” in reconnect – program of Goethe Institute in Hanoi, 2021; TAOI/ II, 2019 and TAOI (The Art of Improvisation) 2021..., Indonesian Dance festival (2021)

https://tamthipham.com

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EVA KLIMMEK (DE)

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SEBASTIAN SARRE (USA)

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JULIA LANGENBUCHER (DE)

Das Spiel und Kompositionen der 1998 in Schwäbisch Gmünd geborenen Saxophonistin Julia Langenbucher sind geprägt von der Vision einer Musik, die sich nicht durch stilistische Grenzen einengen lässt, sondern sich ihren eigenen Weg sucht.
Derzeit studiert sie an der HfMT Hamburg im dortigen Dr. Langner Jazzmaster bei Anna-Lena Schnabel, Asaf Sirkis, Otis Sandsjö, Ruta Paidere und Wolf Kerschek. Dem vorausgegangen ist ein Jazzsaxophonstudiums an der Hochschule für Musik Würzburg bei Hubert Winter, Marko Lackner und Leszek Zadlo, eine klassische Saxophonausbildung bei Martina Ebert an der Berufsfachschule für Musik Dinkelsbühl, sowie Unterricht beim Schwäbisch Gmünder Jazzsaxophonisten Uwe Werner.
Neben dem Julia Langenbucher Quintett ist sie Bandleaderin eines 2023 gegründeten Trios (Gesang, Saxophon, Kontrabass) mit dem sie Musik in Kombination mit anderen Kunstformen, wie Lyrik und bildende Kunst erforscht. Mit dem Langenbucher/Pfister Duo widmet sie sich dem zeitgenösischen Jazz.
Mit dem Julia Langenbucher Quintett war sie Finalistin bei FUTURE SOUNDS 21, dem Nachwuchswettbewerb der Leverkusener Jazztage. Zudem ist sie mehrmalige Preisträgerin des Jazzwettbewerbs der musikalischen Akademie Würzburg. Hier erhielt sie unter anderem 2021 den Sonderpreis für Arrangement und 2020 den Innovationspreis.

https://www.julialangenbucher.de

photo: Dovile Sermokas

VINCENT DOMBROWSKI (DE)

Vincent Dombrowski (*1994) grew up in northern Germany, where he started learning to play the saxophone at the age of twelve. After taking his first steps in a local symphonic brassband, he had private lessons with Hans-Malte Witte, Sebastian Gille & Prof. Martin Claassen.
In 2010, he joined the state youth jazz orchestra of Lower Saxony for six years until 2016. During this time, he got the chance to tour extensively through Germany, Russia and China and work with renowned musicians such as Niels Klein, Stefan Schultze, Nils Wogram and many more.
In 2013, Vincent Dombrowski started studying jazz saxophone and education at the IfM Osnabrück, taking lessons from Tineke Postma, Pablo Held, Frederik Köster, Anne Hartkamp, Thomas Rückert, Florian Weber and many more. During this time, he formed the band „Nordsnø Ensemble“, which has by now recorded three conceptual albums, won the ”Jazz Hoch Im Kurs”-Award and toured extensively for the last couple of years.
From 2015-2019, he studied a bachelor of jazz saxophone and flute at HfMT Hamburg taking lessons from Prof. Fiete Felsch, Gabriel Coburger, Vlatko Kučan, Prof. Wolf Kershek, Buggy Braune and Lucas Lindholm, successfully ending a Bachelor’s degree in music with the final grade of 1,16.
In 2016, Vincent Dombrowski joined the state youth jazz orchestra of Hamburg. With this band he toured to Switzerland and Italy.
In 2019, he joined the Jazzfederation co-hosting the ”Jazzkitchen Hamburg“ which has developed to be a pivotal series to support the local young jazz scene. He also started took up studies of Master of Jazz Composition with Prof. Wolf Kershek at HfMT Hamburg during which he founded the Vincent Dombrowski Bigband, which had its debut at Elbjazz Festival in 2022 (after being postponed for two years due to the pandemic).
Since 2019 Vincent Dombrowski has worked as a producer for the Hamburg Open Online University project ”microtonal saxophone“ creating interviews with some of the most influential saxophone players in this particular field. So far, he has worked with Hayden Chisholm, Philipp Gerschlauer, Asya Fateyeva & David Leon. Further interviews will be released soon – featuring Frank Gratkowski and Vlatko Kučan.
In Autumn 2019, he founded his Quintet ”Vincent Dombrowski’s flow regulator“ for his final bachelor recital at ”fatjazz Hamburg“ and finished his bachelor thesis: ”Between the Tones“ – Perspectives on Microtonal Possibilities for Jazz Harmony.
In 2020, Vincent Dombrowski and Michel Schroeder founded the ”Birdland Bigband“, which is a resident bigband for the renowned Jazzclub Birdland in Hamburg playing regularly every month. After the first two concerts in January and February 2020, the pandemic stopped us from playing with this band for a while but in summer 2021 we were able to restart the band on two occasions and play sold out concerts every month since November 2021.
In 2020 Vincent Dombrowski became a board member of the Jazz Federation Hamburg e.V. and co-produced the interdisciplinary concert series „mycelium – rethinking jazz.“ with Tilman Oberbeck, Cleo Steinberger, Milena Hoge and Ken Dombrowski, which was funded by Initiative Musik through NEUSTART KULTUR.
During the year 2020 Vincent Dombrowski and Yvonne Dombrowski composed & produced the music for the dance performance „Ungeheuer“ by Verena Steiner and have since performed the piece as performers at Kampnagel Hamburg, Wiese e.G., Kultursommer Wien 2021, Hart am Wind 2022 Oldenburg and many schools all over Hamburg.
Yvonne Dombrowski and he also worked on eleven five-minute compositions for the VR-Performance „AGENTS“ by Kotka Gudmon and a composition for the interactive installation „Agency“ which was premiered in summer 2021.
In November 2021 Vincent Dombrowski’s flow regulator was chosen to play at the Jazz Heroes series at JazzHall Hamburg feat. Christopher Dell. In November Vincent Dombrowski also got the opportunity to play with another of his personal heroes: Evans Parker. In December he played with the Jazzkombinat Hamburg feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel.
In March 2022 he conducted the Birdland Bigband playing the legendary „Black, Brown & Beige Suite“.
After composing new music for Nordsnø Ensemble feat. Kit Downes on church organ (feat. lyrics by Anna Berglund) in 2021&2022, this music was recorded by the ensemble in May 2022 at Philippus & Rimbert Kirche Hamburg. This project was funded by Musikfonds program „Stipendienartige Förderung für Ensembles“. In June the Nordsnø Ensemble was invited to play at the legendary Festival Jazzbaltica in Timmendorf Strand.
In September 2022 Vincent Dombrowski performed in the immersive VR-Performance „AGENTS“ playing the church organ and acting as an agent supporting the audience in their agent training.
In October 2022 he got the chance to work with the NDR Bigband for a week recording six original tunes he composed for Bigband during his masters. Furthermore he contributed one composition and recorded an EP for Yvonne Dombrowski’s Progrock-Band „lashless lid“ playing exclusively synthesizers.
As a Bandleader Vincent Dombrowski works with: Vincent Dombrowski’s flow regulator, Nordsnø Ensemble, Vincent Dombrowski Bigband, Officer Johnson’s Intergalaktisches Plantschbecken, Ensō & Birdland Bigband.
Already during his studies Vincent Dombrowski started regularly playing as a sideman with many different ensembles: Michel Schroeder Ensemble, Lashless lid, SPIIC Ensemble, YvoeRee, Ken Dombrowski’s Slideprojection, Hitch & Ich feat. Jens Wawrczek, Bentō, loos.extended & Patrick Huss’ Elemente.
Vincent Dombrowski was able to collaborate with many international artists such as: Evan Parker, NDR Bigband, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Christopher Dell, Kit Downes, Vlatko Kučan, Frederik Köster, Lars Duppler, Fred Frith, Michel Godard, Philipp Gerschlauer, Scott Robinson, Florian Weber, John Horndorp, Jens Wawrzcek, and many more…

https://vincent-dombrowski.com

photo: Fabian Hammerl

VLATKO KUČAN (DE)

Vlatko Kučan (b. 1963 Sarajevo, Ex-Yugoslavia) studied popular music, jazz and music therapy at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg.
He works as a musician (instruments: saxophones and clarinets), composer, producer, music therapist and educator.
His various works focus and explore the possibilities of artistic expression through the art of improvisation. They cross and extend traditional boundaries of contemporary music, jazz, improvised music, theatre and film music. Another focus of Kucan’s work is the combination of literature, philosophy and music. He also works as a director for radio plays and audio books.
He performed and collaborated with leading protagonists of contemporary jazz (i.e. Carla Bley, Lester Bowie, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Bill Elgart, Dieter Glawischnig, Howard Johnson, Jay Oliver, Barre Philips, Tomasz Stanko, Steve Swallow, Kenny Wollesen) and improvised music (i.e. Derek Bailey, Malcolm Goldstein, Barry Guy, Aleksander Kolkowski, Jim Menesses, Rajesh Mehta, Lauren Newton, Maggie Nichols, Mia Zabelka).
His theatre collaborations include directors Karin Beier, Michael Bogdanov, Herbert Fritsch, Brian Michaels, Robert Wilson and musicians Tom Waits, Lester Bowie and Giora Feidman.
His works on literature and music include productions based on texts by Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Charles Baudelaire, Anne Sexton and Mascha Kaleko and collaborations with various actors (i.e. Christian Brückner, Hannelore Elsner, Corinna Harfouch, Susanne Lothar, Dietmar Mues, Barbara Nüsse, Christian Redl, Lars Rudolph, Hanna Schygulla, Otto Sander, Ulrich Tukur, Ulrich Wildgruber) and authors (i.e. Peter Handke, Siri Hustvedt, Hellmuth Karasek, Siegfried Lenz, Benjamin Lebert, Helmut Schmidt).
Vlatko Kučan is teaching Improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HfMT) in Hamburg, Germany at the Jazz department BA and MA programs and the Contemporary Performance and Composition (CoPeCo) MA program. Since 2018 he is the head of the Social Performance, Interdisciplinary Improvisation and Creativity (SPIIC+) project, that is now part of the artistic research lab of the new ligeti center in Hamburg. He has been a visiting artist and lecturer and has held workshops on Improvisation at international academic institutions.

https://www.vlatkokucan.de/

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ERIK KONERTZ (DE)

Der Posaunist Erik Konertz ist ein musikalischer Grenzgänger. Inspiriert von Posaunisten wie Albert Mangelsdorff und Nils Wogram lotet er die spielerischen und klanglichen Möglichkeiten des Instruments bei jeder Gelegenheit aufs Neue aus.
Als Solist in verschiedenen Bigbands, unter anderem dem Bundesjazzorchester, stellt das Konzertieren als Solo-Posaunist ein besonderes Anliegen des Posaunisten dar. Diese Musik ist beeinflusst von Blues, (Free) Jazz, Neuer Musik und geprägt von Improvisation, ohne dabei die Tradition aus den Augen zu verlieren.
Erik Konertz begann im Alter von zehn Jahren Posaune zu spielen, nachdem er bereits seit seinem fünften Lebensjahr von seinem Ziehvater Hans Kämper auf der Gitarre unterrichtet wurde. In dessen Bigband "JazzInvaders", die als Talentschmiede für einige national und international bekannte Jazzmusiker fungierte, konnte er bereits früh Bigband-Erfahrung sammeln und wurde dort Soloposaunist, sowie stellvertretender Leiter der Band.
Von 2015 - 2019 studierte Erik Konertz Jazz-Posaune an der Hochschule für Künste Bremen bei Ed Kröger, Ingo Lahme, Sebastian Hoffmann, Wei Zhu und Christof Lehan. Von 2019 bis 2022 studierte er den Dr. Langner Jazzmaster an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, ein von der Dr. E.A.
Langner-Stiftung gefordertes Masterstudium. Im Zuge dessen erhielt er Unterricht bei Nils Wogram, Dan Gottshall, Ansgar Striepens und Wolf Kerschek.
Beide Studiengänge schloss er mit Bestnoten ab. Im Jahr 2020 wurde er zudem Stipendiat der Oscar- und Vera-Ritter-Stiftung
Während der Bachelor-Studienzeit war er Mitglied des Landesjugendjazzorchesters Hamburg unter der Leitung von Lars Seniuk, der zugleich auch sein
Lehrer und Förderer wurde.
Von 2018 - 2020 war Erik Konertz Mitglied im Bundesjazzorchester (BuJazzo). Tourneen führten ihn quer durch Europa nach Großbritannien, Irland, Niederlande, Schweiz, Italien, Bosnien & Herzegowina u.v.m. Er konzertierte in der Elbphilharmonie, der Kölner Philharmonie, der Philharmonie Essen und vielen anderen Konzerthäusern mit namhaften Künstlern wie Randy Brecker, John Clayton, Jiggs Wigham, Michael Philipp Mossmann, Nils Wogram, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Django Bates u.v.m.
Erik Konertz ist in zahlreichen Bigbands in Deutschland als festes Mitglied oder regelmäßige Aushilfe zu hören, wie z.B. der NDR Bigband, dem Jazzkombinat Hamburg, der Pascal Klewer Bigband oder der Birdland Bigband Hamburg. Zudem spielt er in diversen kleineren Jazzformationen unterschiedlicher Stilistiken. So ist er in der "Benny and Lionel Small Group" im traditionellen Jazz zu Hause, bei dem modernen jazz-sphärischen
Quartett "The Space Between Us" experimentiert er mit Effekten.
Konertz schreibt Musik für unterschiedlichste Formationen, so zum Beispiel für die Band "SLOT" oder sein Duo mit dem Vibraphonisten Christopher Olesch. Er ist Mitglied im international renommierten Posaunenquartett "tb4", welches von Hans Kamper gegründet wurde. Weiterhin ist er seit 2019
Bestandteil der Soul-Jazz Band "SANUYE".
Als Gastmusiker ist Erik Konertz in unterschiedlichen Stilistiken unterwegs von Klassik über Neue Musik, von Free Jazz über Soul, Funk oder Pop Horn
Sections bis hin zur Folk-Pop Band "NIA".
Als Solist ist er auf verschiedenen Alben zu hören, so zum Beispiel auf der 2021 erschienenen CD "Nachtschwärmer" des deutschen Rock- und
Popmusikers Klaus Lage.
Außerdem ist Erik Konertz einer der aktivsten Musiker in der norddeutschen Theaterszene. So ist er regelmäßig bei Stage Entertainment Musicals in Hamburg wie der "König der Löwen", "Wicked" und "Die Eiskönigin" zu hören. 2022 ist er erster Posaunist bei den Freilichtspielen Tecklenburg in der Produktion "Der Besuch der alten Dame". Erfolgreiche Produktionen spielte er auch am Theater Bremen mit "Bang Bang" und "Die rote Zora und ihre Bande". Als Aushilfe spielt er zudem am Hansa-Theater ("Tim Fischer im Cabaret") und als stellvertretender musikalischer Leiter am Thalia Theater
("Shockheaded Peter").
Ebenso ist Erik Konertz ein gefragter Pädagoge in Norddeutschland. Neben verschiedenen Unterrichtstätigkeiten an Musikschulen, u.a. in Delmenhorst und Winsen, hat er bereits eine Vielzahl an Workshops geleitet, zuletzt bei der Bundesbegegnung "Jugend Jazzt".
Seit Oktober 2022 ist er Dozent für Jazz-Posaune an der Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

https://www.erikkonertz.com

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DANICA HOBDEN (AUS)

is an Australian guitarist, improvisor and teacher currently based in Hamburg, Germany. She enjoys crossing musical boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and classical genres as well as interdisciplinary explorations into theatre and film.
Danica is currently working on various projects including gigging and composing for modern jazz ensemble Warmbluetig, who will release their debut album later this year; performing with Hamburger Guitarist Pouya Abdi as duo Guitar Club; working on projects with composer Elizabeth Jigalin as New Music duo dnka+zil, as well as playing guitar, banjo and mandolin in pit orchestras, most recently at the State Theatre and Hayes Theatre Co. She is also a session musician for pop and rock acts, being hired as the backing band for Australian artists such as Courtney Act and cabaret performer Catherine Alcorn, performing at venues such as the Sydney Opera House and ELEVATE Sydney Festival.
She is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, holding a Bachelor of Music Studies in Classical Guitar and a Bachelor of Music Performance in Jazz Guitar. She is currently studying in the Dr. Langner Jazzmaster programme at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hamburg with a focus on composition, studying with her musical heroes Andrea Keller, Reinier Baas and Sven Kerschek.

https://www.danicahobden.com

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NIKLAS WERK (DE)

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HENNING SCHIEWER (DE)

Henning Schiewer wurde 1990 in Rostock geboren.

Er studierte von 2014 bis 2018 an der HMT Rostock E-Bass und Kontrabass bei u.A. Achim Seifert, Markus Setzer und Uwe Steinmetz, sowie 2018 bis 2019 am Berklee College of Music in Boston E-Bass, Kontrabass und Jazzkomposition bei u.A. Bruce Gertz, John Patitucci, Victor Wooten und Oscar Stagnaro.

Seit 2019 lebt er in Hamburg, und arbeitet als freiberuflicher Musiker z.b. in Musicalproduktionen und verschiedenen Projekten in Jazz und Pop, und komponiert und arrangiert eigene Musik für verschiedene Ensembles. 

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JOSHUA WEISS (DE)

comes from the Black Forest and began his musical career at the age of ten and his musical education at the music college in Regensburg. In his early twenties, he moved to Berlin to take lessons with Holger Nell and get to know the scene. There he played in various bands and projects. After the pandemic, he decided to study jazz at the HfMT Hamburg, where he is currently still studying. He now also plays in numerous bands here (Warmbluetig/ howtokope./ Call Me Kandis/ RE:ST etc.) and also puts his own projects on the stages of Hamburg. His drum set up is rustic but is being decorated with more and more percussion instruments from all over the world. His musical horizon is also expanding - he is already one of Hamburg's most sought-after young musicians.