What happens when a contemporary sound artist and a jazz pianist remain shut indoors in a baroque castle in the Piemontese mountains for two weeks? The result is Sjö - a collaborative project between the Budapest-based electronic composer Marcel Zaes (CH) and the Paris-based jazz pianist Andrea Manzoni (ITA). From the sheltered rooms of their baroque retreat, Zaes and Manzoni present a sonic research project which is as contemporary as it is versatile. Sjö explores questions such as what it means for a piano to make a sound in the 21st century - in a century over-determined by an electronic environment. Starting from Manzoni’s jazz based technical expertise, the duo experiments with electronic transformations and the impact of their environment - whether low-key piano bar or deep techno club, their sound seeks to adapt the piano to different 21st century musical settings. The visuals accompanying Sjö’s sonic investigations are provided by the artwork of the artist Anna Schölß (GER) in collaboration with video artist Kristijan Kolak (GER).

The concert will take place on January 14, 2016, at 7 p.m.
 
Artists

Andrea Manzoni was born in Biella, a small town in the far north of Italy, and has been educated at the conservator y of Novara. Active as pianist, composer and producer, he constantly intermingles his diverse musical backgrounds.

Marcel Zaes is a sound artist and performer-composer. He was born in Bern/CH and has lived in Rome, Cairo, Budapest and Zurich. The emptiness of the desert and the Roman baroque lyricism become somehow audible in Zaes’ sonic landscapes.

Anna Schölß, born in Ingolstadt/GER, educated in Vienna and in Munich, is a painter and scenographer. On the basis of abstract color painting she creates sculptural installations which deal with the effect of space, color and materiality.

The concert is organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Switzerland and the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest. Special thanks to the Landis+Gyr Foundation, Switzerland.

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