Angharad Davies & Werner Dafeldecker
The violinist Angharad Davies and the double bassist Werner Dafeldecker bring together their long-standing practice in the field of experimental and improvised music. Both are internationally known for their precise, differentiated sound language and their fine-grained sensitivity to microtonal processes. In their collaboration, they explore the acoustic potential of their instruments in direct dialogue. At the centre is the investigation of transitions between just intonation and microtonal beating, between controlled gesture and spontaneous sonic development. Extended playing techniques meet a deliberately reduced sonic palette. Davies and Dafeldecker transfer their individual artistic research into an open shared process – an acoustic exploration beyond fixed stylistic categories, at the intersection of composition and improvisation as well as structure and openness.
Angharad Davies is a Welsh violinist based in London, working in free improvisation, composition, and performance. Her approach to sound is rooted in attentive listening and in exploring beyond the sonic and performative conventions of her instrument and classical training. Much of her work is collaborative. She performs in long-standing duos with Tisha Mukarji, Dominic Lash, and Lina Lapelyte, and plays with ensembles including Common Objects, Cranc, and Skogen. Her recordings are released on labels such as Another Timbre, Confront Recordings, Emanem, Potlatch, NI VU NI CONNU, and others. In addition to her improvisational practice, she has received commissions for composed works, including from the London Contemporary Music Festival, Explore Ensemble, and GBSR Duo.
Werner Dafeldecker, born in Vienna, is a musician, composer, and sound artist based in Berlin. Since the 1980s he has been active in the field of experimental and electroacoustic music. In 1992 he co-founded the ensemble Polwechsel with Michael Moser, which has played a significant role in shaping contemporary experimental music internationally. His work focuses on the structuring of musical processes, the expansion of instrumental techniques, and the integration of acoustic instruments with electronic and computer-based methods. Another key aspect is the exploration of sound in space and the use of field recordings. His projects often emerge in interdisciplinary contexts, including architecture, film, and visual art. His work is documented in numerous recordings.
Duthoit – Berthelot – Sakai
The singer and clarinetist Isabelle Duthoit, the pianist and sound artist Pascale Berthelot, and the gambist Atsushi Sakai form a trio situated between early and experimental music – under the motto: Puissance de la douceur, the power of gentleness. In this formation, voice, viola da gamba, and harpsichord come together to open a shared field of sonic exploration. At its core is the investigation of plucked, bowed, blown, and vocal materials – ranging from archaic, rough sonic gestures to refined, reduced, and transparent textures. Baroque performance practices and contemporary improvisation enter into an open dialogue. The trio understands its work as a process in which individual musical experiences, historical references, and present-day sonic research overlap. Music emerges as a trace of encounter – between body, instrument, and space, between past and present, between strength and softness.
Isabelle Duthoit is a French musician working in the fields of free improvisation, contemporary music, and performance. Her practice combines clarinet playing with an extended vocal language that emerges from breath, noise, sound, and fragments of voice. A central focus of her work is free improvisation as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with music, theatre, and dance. She regularly performs in international ensembles and projects within the experimental music scene, including Triolid, Krizda, Rose and Stomach, 4 Walls + 2, and Hiatus. Her work is centred on the voice as an autonomous sonic body beyond conventional vocal techniques, understood as an immediate, physically grounded form of expression.
Pascale Berthelot is a pianist, improviser, and composer. Her work moves between contemporary music, improvisation, and interdisciplinary artistic practices. She studied at the CNSMD Lyon and was a fellow of Centre Acanthes as well as a prizewinner of the Fondation Cini – Archivio Luigi Nono. A formative period of her artistic development took place at the Villa Medici – Académie de France à Rome. Her practice combines interpretative work, composition, and an open understanding of sound as process. She has released recordings on labels such as Sony, Mode Records, and La Buissonne, and served as artistic director of the CUICATL series. Alongside her musical work, she is also active in educational and art-therapeutic contexts.
Atsushi Sakai is a gambist, cellist, conductor, and composer. His work spans historical performance practice, contemporary music, and improvisation. He performs as a continuo player with ensembles such as Les Talens Lyriques and Le Concert d’Astrée, and is a co-founder of the Quatuor Cambini-Paris, which performs on historical instruments. As a conductor, he has worked at institutions including the Opéra de Lille, the Opéra Comique, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He is also active in the improvisation and contemporary music scene, collaborating with musicians such as Christophe Monniot, David Chevallier, and Guillaume Roy. His work connects historical practice, composition, and improvisation within a broad artistic field spanning different musical eras and contexts.
Workshop with Isabelle Duthoit from 8 to 10 May 2026 at exploratorium berlin:
Diving into our depths in search of truth, workshop for vocal improvisation
