Nikel

My musical home since 2006 is “Nikel”. A mix of traditional and contemporary, the groups’ instrumentation (saxophone, electric guitar, percussion & piano) aims at an alternative chamber music output where electric and acoustic sounds are fused into a unified sonic organism built on a wide, yet discerning musical vocabulary. The continual search for new musical ideas is not based on aesthetic prejudice or dichotomies of musical genres, but on passion and devotion to making and performing great music.

For more then a decade Nikel is a frequent guest at many of the most well known festivals of Contemporary Art Music: Donaueschinger Musiktage, International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt, Wien Modern, Warsaw Autumn, Manifeste Paris, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Gaudeamus Utrecht & Impuls Graz to name a few. In recent years, the group have increased its international presence with appearances in North America, South America and New Zealand, as well as continued appearances at major festivals throughout Europe. Line up consists of  Brian Archinal (Percussion/Drums), Antoine Françoise (Piano/keyboard), Patrick Stadler (Saxophones) & myself on guitar.

Explore Nikel at: www.ensemblenikel.com

 

OM ON

Together with guitarist Tom Pauwels (Ensemble Ictus), we’ve been performing around Europe “Om On” by Italian composer Pierluigi Billone. Written for us in 2015, this 80minute epic work is a tour de force of guitar playing but no less it is an offering for two musicians to mutually explore: canvases of sound, intricate hockets and the perception of musical time. Released on Kairos label under the obvious title of “Om On”, this collaboration is one of my dearest projects to date.