Ensemble Phœnix Basel

In our deliberately open blank program, we hope once again to make the boundaries of the genres perceptible and tangible, to transcend them and to interweave different genres of contemporary artistic creation more closely.

With Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje we have invited an immensely versatile artist: The composer and vocal artist with an unmistakably unique voice moves in a wide variety of fields between composition and improvisation, from music theater to installation works. In collaboration with us, she will appear as both composer and performer.

The Basel based composer Lukas Huber has been familiar with new media for years and is well versed in various contemporary styles. With this commission, he ventures into an area beyond conventional “academic” composing. In order to succeed, Huber has decided not to approach the ensemble as an individual – because adding a composer would already serve a setting typical of New Music – but to work with his band UFO: Through the confrontation of a “free improv” band and an ensemble for contemporary music, automatisms should be made visible and broken up more quickly.