TIZIANA BERTONCINI + THOMAS LEHN

Tiziana Bertoncini – violinist specializing in contemporary art music, improvisation and interdisciplinary events, whose musical activity is still poorly documented on disc. Thomas Lehn needs no introduction – his projects and collaborations within the European and American improvised music scenes are as well-known as his rudimentary ‘old school’ approach to music. They represent practically two different musical worlds.
Tiziana and Thomas work together since 2002. The special feature of the duo is the alchemy created by the meeting of the classical and the electronic instrument. The different nature of sound, the characteristics and histories of violin and analogue synthesizer could recall a friction. Actually, what happens is a sort of mirror game, in which the roles of the instruments are continuously exchanged. Bertoncini and Lehn move in an abstract territory, their approach to sound is contemporary. Nevertheless their consideration to music is quite classical insofar as based principally on tension/release, rupture, intensity and expressivity in all its facets. A surprising and intriguing encounter, then, which manages to overcome and integrate these two different worlds, creating a new one which is equally rich and creative. 

Please contact Joanna John / hello@kissthefrog.no for booking inquires.

Thomas Lehn is a pianist, analogue synthesizer player and a composer-performer of contemporary music. His academic education enfolds studies of recording engineering at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany in 1979-1980 as well as classical and jazz piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne 1980-1987. At the 80ies he repeatedly joined Studio for pianistic interpretation held by Prof. Jürgen Uhde and courses of New Music in Darmstadt. Since the 1980s he has been performing as interpreting pianist, both, contemporary new music including numerous first performances and traditional composed music of the classical/romantical period, however furthermore in jazz and rock bands, music theatre and performance projects. Parallel to this work as a pianist, since the early 1990s he extensively developed activities in international colloborations as a performer of live electronic music based on the sound synthesis of analogue synthesizers of the late 1960s, utilizing almost exclusively the EMS Synthi. In 2000 his solo album Feldstärken has been released on German label Random Acoustics.

Performing majorly his own electronic music, he has been extending his work by live- and studio-produced synthesizer interpretations of electronic compositions by composers like Boguslav Schaeffer, Éliane Radigue, Peter Jakober, Anthony Pateras, Zbigniew Karkowski a.m.o. . The realisation of Boguslav Schaeffer’s Electronic Symphony has been documented on the CD PRES Scores on polish label Bolt/Monotype. In 2012 he premierred as soloist OCCAM VI for synthesizer solo by Éliane Radigue at Berghain Berlin during festival Faithful! and – together with KlangForum Wien – dort for synthesizer and 15 piece ensemble by austrian composer Peter Jakober at musikprotokoll Graz and at Konzerthaus Vienna.

International collaborations enclosure long term and newer ensembles as well as involvements in numerous specific projects employing either merely music, or, music in combination with other artistic practices (dance, film, video, multimedia, performance etc.). Long term working ensembles include the trios KONK PACK, TOOT, THERMAL, the duos works with Marcus Schmickler, Tiziana Bertoncini, Gerry Hemingway, Paul Lovens, Frédéric Blondy Urs Leimgruber and John Butcher, as well as other formations like MIMEO, SPEAK EASY, SHIFT, 6IX, a.mo. . Furthermore, he is pianist and founding member of the ensemble]h[iatus, a project dedicated to the both practices of interpratation and improvisation. More recently established ensembles are the duos with the video artist Kjell Bjørgeengen and percussionist Roger Turner, as well as two trio formations shared together with John Butcher involving the pianists John Tilbury and Matthew Shipp.