Dear all!
September dates!
Sat 6 September, 20:00
Joey Green & The Rayville Big Band
Casanova Dorotheergasse 6-8, Wien, Austria
https://casanova-vienna.at/events/joey-green-the-rayville-bigband-live/
Sun 14 September, 15:00
Schouten/Hassfurther/Borges/Gratkowski
Basklarinetfestijn Lantaren Venster, Otto Reuchlinweg 996, Rotterdam, Netherlands
https://www.lantarenvenster.nl/programma/basklarinetfestijn-2025/
Fri 19 September, 19:30
Kaleidoscope
dakig Bahnstraße 33a, Gänserndorf
https://www.kulturbuehne.at/programm/programm-details/kaleidoscope
The most exciting news: Austrian Music Export (AME) and the Austrian Music Fund are supporting my collaboration with Dutch clarinetist Fie Schouten through a grant (Impulsförderung)! That means more space for focused, creative work, a real luxury.
In August, we took the opportunity of Fie’s residency in Paris and spent a few inspiring days at the van Doesburghuis, where we rehearsed, laughed, discussed ideas, explored the city and made new connections. Needless to say, Paris and Meudon are worth a visit even without a residency. The van Doesburghuis is open to visitors once a month (highly recommended!). And at Rodin’s former home, now the Musée Rodin, there is at least an attempt to provide historical context and challenge the cult of genius. I was saving the Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber Museum for next time, but the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris had a wonderful exhibition of works by Gabriele Münter, co-founder of Der Blaue Reiter.
But back to the project with Fie Schouten: this autumn, we’ll be playing three concerts, starting off next week in Rotterdam, joined by the wonderful Frank Gratkowski and Sofia Borges. The project explores the theme of space, inspired by the book Espèces d’espaces (en: Species of Spaces and Other Pieces) by Georges Perec. The idea of space – staging, taking space, giving space – has become a key topic in our conversations and has offered us a whole new perspective on the text.
We recorded with Frank just over a year ago. One of the pieces is up on SoundCloud (just click away the nag screen in the top right corner).
On September 19, I’ll be performing with my octet Kaleidoscope at dakig in Gänserndorf, a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. The dakig is a true rock in the storm. Anyone who’s ever tried organizing culture in the countryside knows what I am talking about. This will be our last concert before we head into the studio with the program at the end of September, more on that soon. The music explores themes like equal opportunity, power structures, credibility, courage, vulnerability, empathy, and integrity.
And for anyone in the mood for Big Band and a Ray Charles program this Friday: I’ll be performing with the Joey Green Big Band at Casanova in Vienna.
Oh yes, somewhere in between all of this, there was our home renovation… but I’ll save that story for another time over a cold drink. 🍹
Regards,
Sophie