[silence] Ensemble Hiatus in Cologne

[Lê Quan Ninh]

The very new Ensemble Hiatus will perform  during the Köln MusikNacht  
(http://www.koelner-musiknacht.de/) on Saturday October 14th, 2006

The program is :

Four 6 - John Cage
for four instruments
Tiziana Bertoncini, Angelika Sheridan, Martine Altenburger, Lê Quan Ninh

Lecture on nothing - John Cage (in english, french and german)
Géraldine Keller

Mirrors Kaïja Saariaho
for flute and cello
Martine Altenburger, Angelika Sheridan

Improvisation: Martine Altenburger, Tiziana Bertoncini, Géraldine  
Keller, Lê Quan Ninh, Angelika Sheridan


The Ensemble Hiatus is an international contemporary music ensemble  
created by the cello player Martine Altenburger and the percussionist  
Lê Quan Ninh.
This is both a modular and highly variable ensemble, and its  
distinctive feature is that the majority, if not all of its members  
are at the same time experienced performers and improvisers. The  
projects presented by the Ensemble Hiatus reflect this entirely:  
instead of simply performing repertory pieces from the 20th and 21st  
century, the ensemble takes us on a musical journey, performing a  
combination of both written pieces and improvisation. This is an  
artistic style which is both coherent and at odds with tradition,  
where musicians constantly alternate between disciplines too often  
considered as antinomical.

The Ensemble Ensemble Hiatus’s desire is to share their unique vision  
of contemporary music, gained through their extensive experience in  
the field of performance and improvisation. For the Ensemble, music  
does not simply emanate from those who write it, but also from those  
who perform it. Their daily contact with sound means they feel and  
understand the music's transformations, something which can only be  
attained through patient proximity to both the compositions and the  
instruments.
Effectively, an improviser’s approach to sound is very different to  
that of non-improvisational musicians. Improvising means primarily  
questioning all previous use and experience of the instrument. It  
thus becomes a tool for creation, a tool which allows the musician to  
create his or her own poetry in ever changing artistic productions,  
and to forge a natural relationship with other media such as dance,  
video, cinema, visual arts...
The improviser has to master the art of listening, he or she must be  
able to adapt to and comprehend the compositions, which in turn allow  
them as performers to gain an organic understanding of the music and  
its innate movement.
The Ensemble Ensemble Hiatus likes to work in harmony with the  
venues, even perhaps with the spirit that inhabits the spaces where  
they present their concerts, performances and installations.

http://www.ensemble-hiatus.eu (in construction)

Lê Quan Ninh