Still image from a video documentation of a performance of 'Untitled' for voice and gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion) by A.N.
Score of 'Vom Glühen der Glut' for orchestra and smartphones by A.N.
The strophonion – a gesture-controlled live electronics, image by Janina Janke
Chapter in: Machinic Assemblages of Desire: Deleuze and Artistic Research 3
Still image from a video recording by Oscar Loeser of A.N. performing 'Panache' for voice solo
Alex Nowitz is a composer and vocal performance artist from Germany. He also appears as improviser, sound artist and musician and, furthermore, works as artist-researcher, author and curator.
His compositions comprise vocal and instrumental chamber music, full-length operas, orchestral pieces, electro-acoustic music, multimedia formats, music for dance and spoken theatre. As composer-performer he presents extended vocal performance art often applying custom, gesture-controlled live electronics, most notably the strophonion. Both in his vocal performance art and in his compositions dedicated to others he explores the notion of multivocality.
Alex Nowitz holds a doctoral degree in 'Performative and Mediated Practices with Specialisation in Opera' from the Stockholm University of the Arts. In November 2021 he initiated and curated the international festival for vocal performance art, sound and music in Potsdam & Berlin Designing Voices. Also in 2021 the Deutsche Filmorchester Babelsberg [German Film Orchestra Babelsberg] recorded his study for large orchestra Ich bin das Volk [I am the people] published as part of the CD "Brandenburg – NEUE MUSIK orchestral" (BVNM, 2023). In April 2022 the Kammerakademie Potsdam commissioned and premiered Vom Glühen der Glut [On the glowing of the embers] for orchestra and smartphones. In 2022 A.N. was fellow at the Villa Aurora, Los Angeles.
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UPCOMING
18 May 2023, 20:30: Premiere of a NEW WORK for the duo Klariac consisting of Matthias Badzong (clarinet) and Christine Paté (accordeon) as part of the opening concert of the new music festival intersonanzen at the Potsdam Museum.
26 March 2023, 14:00: Performance "From paradigm to paradigm, into the biomic time" by Nandita Kumar with Merche Blasco, Christian Kesten, Felicity Mangan, A.N. and Ute Wassermann at the daadgalerie Berlin. Co-developed by the performers. The performance is part of the program MaerzMusik (Berliner Festspiele).
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INFORMATION in detail
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WORKS & PROJECTS in 2023
16 February 2023, 20:00: BLONOVO: Figures Erronées
Frédéric Blondy (FR) piano, A.N. (DE) voice, gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion), Sabine Vogel (DE) flute, objects: Exploratorium Berlin
Frédéric Blondy (FR) piano, A.N. (DE) voice, gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion), Sabine Vogel (DE) flute, objects: Exploratorium Berlin
26 January 2023, 19:00: Opening of the sound installation and exhibition "From paradigm to paradigm, into the biomic time" by Nandita Kumar at the daadgalerie Berlin. Co-developers and part of the sound installation are Merche Blasco, Christian Kesten, Felicity Mangan, A.N. and Ute Wassermann.
22 January 2023, 18:00: Doubles & Drones from the Desert (2022) for piccolo/alto flute, voice/live electronics and video (≈30 mins.) and the Venus-Komplex (≈25 mins.) consisting of the Venusfalle (2006) for flute solo, Schaumspuren (2015) for voice solo and the electocacoustic piece Ellafsunev (2014) with Katrin Plümer (flutes) and A.N. (voice, strophonion). Raum für Klang und Architektur, 14612 Falkensee.
January 2023: Ich bin das Volk for large orchestra (2021) as part of the CD "Brandenburg – NEUE MUSIK orchestral" interpreted by Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg [German Film Orchestra Babelsberg] (DFOB) and conducted by Christian Köhler—a co-production by DFOB & Brandenburgischer Verein für Neue Musik [Brandenburgian Association for New Music].
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MAJOR WORKS & PROJECTS in 2022
Haikus & Herotika
Sieben Gedichte aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen
[Seven poems taken out of context]
DV limited edition, Potsdam, Dec. 2022
Sieben Gedichte aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen
[Seven poems taken out of context]
DV limited edition, Potsdam, Dec. 2022
Doubles & Drones from the Desert
for voice, piccolo & alto flute, gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion) & video, premiere Klosterscheune Zehdenick 2022
In the thicket of the invisible wires
vocal performance with double bass & gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion), premiere Französische Kirche Potsdam 2022
More infos here...
vocal performance with double bass & gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion), premiere Französische Kirche Potsdam 2022
More infos here...
Alex Nowitz in conversation with Volker Straebel
(Dean of Music, CalArts)
at the Villa Aurora, Los Angeles 2022
(Dean of Music, CalArts)
at the Villa Aurora, Los Angeles 2022
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MAJOR WORKS & PROJECTS from 2021 to 2019
Designing Voices
international festival for vocal performance art, sound and music, Potsdam & Berlin 2021
international festival for vocal performance art, sound and music, Potsdam & Berlin 2021
Monsters I Love
documented artistic research project, Stockholm 2019
documented artistic research project, Stockholm 2019
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ALL WORKS & PROJECTS in 2022
December 2022: publication of the article: 'Sprache und Spannung: Aspekte der vielstimmigen Stimme im Kontext musikalischer Improvisation' in: improfil – Theorie und Praxis improvisierter Musik (Thema: Sinn und Präsenz in Improvisation), Nr. 85 (Dezember 2022), 58–63. ['Speech and Tension: Aspects of the multivocal voice within the frame of musical improvisation' in improfil—Theory and practice of improvised music (Sense and Presence in Improvisation)]. Other contributors are Christian Grüny, Nicola L. Hein, Carl-Ludwig Hübsch, Mathias Maschat, Matthias Schwabe, Sabine Vogel, a.m.o.
December 2022: publication of Haikus & Herotika: Sieben Gedichte aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen [Seven poems taken out of context] Designing Voices (DV) limited edition, Potsdam, Dec. 2022
20 November 2022, 16:00: premiere of Doubles and Drones from the Desert for voice, piccolo & alto flute, gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion) & video, commissioned by the ensemble Work In Progress – Berlin, and The bird that did not return for voice and gesture-controlled live electronics as part of the fifth edition of the concert series tiefschön 5 [profoundly beautiful] directed by Gerhardt Müller-Goldboom. Voice & live electronics: A.N., flutes: Katrin Plümer; at the Klosterscheune Zehdenick, Am Kloster 1, 16792 Zehdenick.
[Acknowledgement: Villa Aurora, Los Angeles. The residency made it possible to shoot videos together with Sabine Vogel during April through to June 2022 in several Californian deserts, including Timbisha, which is how the Native Americans, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, call their homeland referring to the red pigment found in the mountains overlooking what the Euro-Americans came to label as Death Valley.]
20 November 2022, 16:00: premiere of Doubles and Drones from the Desert for voice, piccolo & alto flute, gesture-controlled live electronics (strophonion) & video, commissioned by the ensemble Work In Progress – Berlin, and The bird that did not return for voice and gesture-controlled live electronics as part of the fifth edition of the concert series tiefschön 5 [profoundly beautiful] directed by Gerhardt Müller-Goldboom. Voice & live electronics: A.N., flutes: Katrin Plümer; at the Klosterscheune Zehdenick, Am Kloster 1, 16792 Zehdenick.
[Acknowledgement: Villa Aurora, Los Angeles. The residency made it possible to shoot videos together with Sabine Vogel during April through to June 2022 in several Californian deserts, including Timbisha, which is how the Native Americans, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, call their homeland referring to the red pigment found in the mountains overlooking what the Euro-Americans came to label as Death Valley.]
22 Oktober 2022: premiere of Im Dickicht der unsichtbaren Drähte [In the thicket of the invisible wires] concert performance with Matthias Bauer (double bass, voice) & A.N. (voice, gesture-controlled live electronics [strophonion]) at the Französische Kirche, Am Bassinplatz/Charlottenstraße 55-58, 14467 Potsdam.
18 September 2022, 15:00: Bauwagenkonzert [tiny home on wheels concert] with trio formation Elo Masing (violin), Hui-Chun Lin (cello) & Sabine Vogel (flutes) & the duo project "Ffft!" by S.V. (flutes) & A.N. (voice) in Paretz (Land Brandenburg).
18 September 2022, 15:00: Bauwagenkonzert [tiny home on wheels concert] with trio formation Elo Masing (violin), Hui-Chun Lin (cello) & Sabine Vogel (flutes) & the duo project "Ffft!" by S.V. (flutes) & A.N. (voice) in Paretz (Land Brandenburg).
17 September 2022, 20:00: TRAUMTEXT2022, an audio play and performance concept by Thorsten Müller, based on Heiner Müller's TRAUMTEXT (1995), with A.N. (voice), Jürgen Kupke (clarinet), Nicolas Schulze (piano, electronics) and Thorsten Müller (bass clarinet, fixed sounds) at Café hausZwei, Friedrich-Engels-Straße 22, 14473 Potsdam.
3 September 2022, 19:00: Michael Wollny (piano) & A.N. (voice) concert performance based on a selection of text fragments related to Johann S. Bach by Theodor W. Adorno, J. S. Bach, Thomas Bernhard and Herrmann Keller as part of the Bachfesttagen in Köthen at the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Saal/Schloss Köthen, Schloßplatz 4, 06366 Köthen (Anhalt). Thanks to Henner Fritzsche for the photos.
Image: Henner Fritzsche
Image: Henner Fritzsche
Image: Henner Fritzsche
Image: Henner Fritzsche
Images: Henner Fritzsche
April-June 2022: Three-month artist residency at the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, funded by the Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media of Germany. Exploring the landscapes of different deserts in Southern California flautist and sound artist Sabine Vogel and A.N. record a variety of solo performances at carefully selected locations.
photo: Alex Nowitz
photo: Sabine Vogel
photo: Alex Nowitz
photo: Sabine Vogel
photo: Alex Nowitz
photo: Sabine Vogel
The images are taken by the artists presenting a small selection of scenes from the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 'Timbisha.' This is how the Native Americans, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, call their homeland. 'Timbisha' refers to the red pigment found in the mountains overlooking what the Euro-Americans labeled as Death Valley.
22 June 2022: Improvisation concert — the trio Esoteric Revelation with LA musicians Will Alexander (piano), Bobby Bradford (trumpet) and Lester McFarland (bass) invite Sabine Vogel (flautist) and A.N. (voice, live electronics [strophonion]) to present solo & duo sets and to join in a quintet formation as part of the series The Unwrinkled Ear at 2220 Arts & Archives, Los Angeles, curated by Andrew Choate.
May 2022: Review by Pieter Verstraete: 'Designing Voices: 2.–7. November 2021, Berlin und Potsdam'
in: Positionen: Texte zur aktuellen Musik.
24 May 2022, 5 pm: "Ffft!" concert and lecture-performances for voice and live electronics [strophonion], flutes and amplified objects by A.N. and Sabine Vogel at the Concert Hall of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), curated by Wilfrido Terrazas.
14 May 2022, 4 pm: As part of Meet the Artist at the Villa Aurora, LA:
– A.N.: Ellafsunev (2013), an electroacoustic composition for two speakers, including sounds taken from the composition ‘Venusfalle' for flute and piano resonance interpreted and recorded by Sabine Vogel
Image: Aaron Perez
– Sabine Vogel & A.N.: Music for Balconies, for flutes and objects, voice and whistles at the Villa Aurora
Image: Aaron Perez
Image: Aaron Perez
Image: Aaron Perez
Image: Aaron Perez
Image: Aaron Perez
– A.N.: The Voice in my Works, a lecture-performance on multivocal perspectives in works for orchestra and those for extended vocal performance art applying custom, gesture-controlled live electronics, the strophonion.
Image: Aaron Perez
All images: Aaron Perez
2 April 2022, 6 pm: World premiere of Vom Glühen der Glut: Eine kleine Nachtszene für Orchester und Smartphones [On the Glowing of the Embers: A short nocturnal scene for orchestra and smartphones] composed by A.N. and commissioned by the Kammerakademie Potsdam (KAP) under the artistic direction of Antonello Manacorda as part of a gala concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ensemble.
Listen to the audio recording of live broadcast by rbbKultur:
https://soundcloud.com/alexnowitz/vom-gluehen-der-glut
Antonello Manacorda & Kammerakademie Potsdam in the Nikolaisaal Potsdam (2022) – photo: Beate Maetzel
Vom Glühen der Glut
(KAP / Nikolaisaal, Potsdam 2022)
[photo: Beate Maetzel]
(KAP / Nikolaisaal, Potsdam 2022)
[photo: Beate Maetzel]
2 April 2022: Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung (MAZ KULTUR), S 11: "Ein Mensch mit vielen Stimmen und Monstern: Der Potsdamer Gesangsvirtuose Alex Nowitz hat ein Stück für 'Orchester und Smartphones' komponiert" [A human with many voices and monsters: The Potsdam-based vocal artist Alex Nowitz has composed a piece for 'orchestra and smartphones'] a portrait by Karim Saab.
8 February 2022, 00:05-01:00: Deutschlandradio Kultur / Neue Musik: "Musiksprache der Zukunft: Wie das künstlerische Verhalten zur Natur die Musik neu justiert" a radio feature by Gisela Nauck with interviews and music by Sabine Vogel, Ute Wassermann, Marcus Maeder and A.N.:
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/wie-das-kuenstlerische-verhalten-zur-natur-die-musik-neu-justiert-dlf-kultur-58414b26-100.html.
19 January 2022, 20:00: Nicolas Schulze (piano) invites Sabine Vogel (flutes) and A.N. (voice) to an improvisation concert at Au Topsi Pohl, Pohlstrasse 64, 10785 Berlin.
4 / 7 January 2022 (18:00 / 11:00): Broadcast of an interview including music of A.N. about theory and practice of new vocalities by Solveig Sørbø together with co-host Agata Żelechowska at Oslo-based radiOrakel:
https://radiorakel.no/uncategorized/night-of-new-vocalities/.
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Sten Sandell & A.N., Designing Voices Berlin, 4 Nov. 2021 — Photo: Sebastian Rausch
A.N. performing with the strophonion (back up version), Designing Voices Berlin, 6 Nov. 2021 — Photo: Sebastian Rausch
Matthias Bauer & A.N., Designing Voices Potsdam, 3 Nov. 2021 — Photo: Sebastian Rausch
ALL WORKS & PROJECTS from 2021 to 2019
A.N., Designing Voices Berlin, 6 Nov. 2021 — Photo: Sebastian Rausch
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Scores and booking requests
Thank you!
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