Dato: 06-04-24
Sted: GSS (Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Griegakademiet, inng. Nina Griegs gate 6
Døren åpner: 12:00
Pris: free
SmalPrat is the discursive event series organized by nyMusikk Bergen. This time, we will meet the composer Alfred Zimmerlin and accordionist Sergej Tchirkov. In our discussion, we will go into topics related to their new work, ‘Akkordeonbuch,’ including the concepts of the instrument as a site for research and the book as a network of nonlinear possibilities.
Alfred Zimmerlin (b. 1955) is a composer and improviser. Zimmerlin studied musicology, music ethnology, and composition (under Hans Wüthrich and Hans Ulrich Lehmann). He has an active concert career as an improvising cellist with many different groups in Europe and the USA. For 36 years, he was a member of the innovative composer collective and improvisation trio KARL ein KARL. Zimmerlin’s extensive repertoire includes piano pieces, chamber music with or without electronics, vocal music, orchestral music, and musical theater works. His diverse activities are documented in several audio-carrying media. Among other things, he received the Kulturpreis des Kantons Zürich in 2014 and the Swiss Music Prize in 2016. From 2010 to 2022, he was a professor of free improvisation at the FHNW Hochschule für Musik – Musik-Akademie Basel / Sonic Space Basel.
Sergej Tchirkov (*1980, St. Petersburg) is an accordionist, curator, and researcher based in Bergen. Tchirkov has a strong interest in contemporary music, which has led him to collaborate with composers such as Pierluigi Billone, Hanna Eimermacher, José María Sánchez Verdú, Ivan Fedele, Tamara Friebel, Klaus Lang, Dmitri Kourliandski, Elena Rykova, Dieter Schnebel, Gérard Zinsstag, Ida Lundén, Sergej Newski and Thomas Kessler. Through such collaborations, he has premiered around 300 works for accordion. Today he works as a research fellow in artistic development work at the University of Bergen, Faculty of Art, Music and Design, Grieg Academy, and is a board member of nyMusikk Bergen. Tchirkov’s latest curatorial and artistic activities include anti-war concerts for organizations working with people affected by wars.
Akkordeonbuch (2020-2022)
A. Zimmerlin writes about the work:
Musicians today are researchers of their instruments; they develop the sonorous and technical possibilities in a virtuoso way. For me, as a composer, this means keeping spaces open where this new and alternative virtuosity can unfold. I want to create a kind of occasionally shifted teamwork situation where the performers, based on clear suggestions from the composer, can shape a unique presentation of the work. In Akkordeonbuch, a work in progress, there are pieces that are clearly formulated but, at the same time, have endless possibilities for design and open up for their own research. It is desirable that the production remains alive and constantly renews itself. In addition, there is the piece that was designed en détail.
Sergej Tchirkov is a key creative partner in the project. We have met regularly for several years to discuss his relationship with the instrument and his research. I have also recorded a longer conversation from January 2016; it became an important basis for the Akkordeonbuch. This gave me an image of the accordion’s «psychology.» Although the Akkordeonbuch project has been hovering between us since 2014, I only started the composition work at the end of 2020. An important theme in the accordion book is the relationship between the body and the sound: Different postures affect the sound with great directness. In Akkordeonbuch, there is a piece in which body postures are also composed, something that can sometimes lend itself to a brief appearance of theater music. The body postures can also go against the sheet music to create a conflict between body and sound.
Akkordeonbuch comprises 17 pieces: 7 longer (approx. 5 to 9 minutes) and 10 short (approx. 2 minutes). A full performance will probably last around 70 minutes. The piece is linked together as if in a network; according to clear rules, a performer can move in this network and generate completely different sequences of the piece. Therefore, the presentation of the cycle can also constantly change. The long pieces are procedurally about the relationship between body and melody. The short pieces are primarily conceived harmoniously and partly consist of controlled improvisation.
The long-term project Akkordeonbuch is supported by Pro Helvetia, the Swiss cultural foundation, and the Grieg Academy / University of Bergen (Norway). Both will receive a heartfelt thank you.
Link to Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/1LZGOiQlT
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