With Improfest Berlin, a Berlin edition of the Brazilian Improfest – Festival Internacional de Improvisação e Arte Sonora is being presented for the first time. Since 2007, it has been co-developed and curated by Paulo Hartmann. Over more than two decades, Improfest has established itself as an international platform for free improvisation, sound art, performance, and experimental music, connecting artists, scenes, and institutions across Brazil, Europe, and beyond. In collaboration with Paulo Hartmann, the exploratorium berlin now brings this transatlantic dialogue to Berlin.
The Berlin festival edition is dedicated to the intersections of experimental music, improvisation, and innovative instrument building. It functions as a transatlantic platform for artistic innovation, bringing together Brazil’s creative “Gambiarra” culture and the Berlin Echtzeitmusik scene. At its core lies the legacy of Hans Reichel, whose work understood the instrument not merely as a tool of sound production, but as an extension of body, perception, and imagination. The program also explores the potential of network technologies as a tool for contemporary improvisation.
In lectures, panels, and live performances, audiences can experience, among others: Paulo Hartmann, Annette Krebs, Kriton Beyer, Emilio Gordoa, as well as the Ethernet Orchestra featuring Alex Carôt and his Soundjack software.
Programme
16:00–16:15 Paulo Hartmann & Mathias Maschat: Welcome and Introduction
16:15–16:45 Showcase I – Brazilian Luthierie
Paulo Hartmann: Gambiarra Aesthetics and Instrument Building
16:45–17:15 Showcase II: German Luthierie
Annette Krebs: From Guitar Performance to the Development of the “Konstruktion” Series
17:15–17:30 break
17:30–18:30 Showcase III:
Kriton Beyer: The Daxophone
18:30–19:00 Round Table: The Legacy of Hans Reichel
Kriton Beyer, Paulo Hartmann & Mathias Maschat
19:00–20:00 Networking Break & Bar
20:00–20:45 Ethernet Orchestra feat. Alex Carôt (+ Introduction by Alex Carôt)
20:45–21:00 break
21:00 Kriton Beyer | Emilio Gordoa | Paulo Hartmann | Annette Krebs
Annette Krebs / Emilio Gordoa Duo
Kriton Beyer / Paulo Hartmann Duo
Beyer | Gordoa | Hartmann | Krebs Quartet
