Maggie Nicols (GB) – voice, tap dance
Caroline Kraabel (US/GB) – saxophone, voice
Charlotte Hug (CH) – viola, voice
Caroline Kraabel and Charlotte Hug share a vocal-musical elemental force with the vocal pioneer Maggie Nicols. Diva and clown, madness and profundity – everything is possible, but the performance is always authentic and original. Together, the three voices abandon the preconceived and tap into the directness of the pre-verbal. “There is sensitivity and softness, tempered by an approach that eschews limits so that surprises abound. At times the instruments seem like props for the voice, but most of the time there is an egalitarian process, where all three merge as one. The ranges of all three are similar, too, weaving lines that meld and then unravel mysteriously.” (Steven Loewy, Cadence 2002) Their music “is pure gold”. (François Couture, All-Music Guide 2002)
Individually each of the three musicians pursues distinct artist endeavours. Charlotte Hug’s solo work explores the performance potential of unusual; Caroline Kraabel’s emphasizes the uniqueness of live performance whether with her group of 20 female saxophone players, Mass Producers, or her one-woman mixed-media performance pieces; and Maggie Nicols has a long and rich association with improvised music and workshop projects which explore the liberating, empowering and transformative potential of improvised music.
Maggie Nicols is a renowned pioneer of European improvised music (Feminist Improvising Group, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Centipede, The Gathering etc.) with over forty years experience of improvisation in performance, life and teaching. She explores sound, the voice and creative energy in all their magical diversity. Caroline Kraabel is an improvising saxophonist and composer, conductor and creator of pieces for large improvising ensembles (London Improvisers Orchestra, Grand Groupe d’Improvisation Libre etc.). She explores methods allowing large groups of musicians to improvise together, skirting chaos in stimulating, fruitful and unusual ways. Charlotte Hug is a Swiss composer, performer and visual artist. She is internationally known for her innovative musical and visual improvised solo performances for viola, voice and interdisciplinary Son-Icons (sound-drawings). She has received a plethora of awards, including residencies in London, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg and Shanghai.
On the days after the concert (October 14–16, 2022), Charlotte Hug will give our current special workshop: My Instrument: A Voice Unlimited – My Voice: An Instrument Unlimited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Nicols
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kraabel
https://www.charlottehug.com/en/
Admission: 15/12/8 € (normal price/reduced/Berlin-Pass)
19.00 soundwalk with Thomas Gerwin
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHztuAeCC0M