AUDREY CHEN

Audrey Chen has created an uncompromising and idiosyncratic music, tightly disciplined yet acoustically wild and heavy with implication. Her ultra-verbal vocalising, often reminiscent of the visceral and emotionally charged sound poetry of François Dufréne or Henri Chopin, exposes physiological aspects of utterance that are concealed within standardised articulation and day to day speech. Fleshy, breath-driven and flecked with spittle, Chen’s voice emanates not just from her mouth but from an ensemble of upper body surfaces, channels, passages, and cavities.

– Julien Cowley, THE WIRE

Audrey is a 2nd generation Chinese/Taiwanese-American musician who was born into a family of material scientists, doctors and engineers, outside of Chicago in 1976. Parting ways with the family convention, she turned to the cello at age 8 and voice at 11. After years of classical and conservatory training in both instruments, with a resulting specialization in early and new music, she parted ways again in 2003 to begin new negotiations with sound in order to discover a more individually honest aesthetic. Since then, using the cello, voice and occasional analog electronics, Chen’s work delves deeply into her own version of narrative and non-linear storytelling. A large component of her music is improvised, is completely non-processed and her approach to this is extremely personal and visceral.

For booking inquires (Worldwide + Poland, Norway, UK), please contact Joanna John / hello@kissthefrog.no
For booking inquiries inside of Europe, please contact Jean Labbe / jl@underground-institute.com

Her playing explores the combination and layering of an analog synthesizer, preparations and traditional and extended techniques in both the voice and cello. She works to join these elements into a singular ecstatic personal language.For nearly two decades, her predominant focus has been her solo work with the cello, voice and electronics, but she has more recently begun to shift back towards the exploration of the voice as a primary instrument. Full list of releases here.

Audrey Chen is a part of SHAPE PLATFORM and it is worth reading the interview she gave to Lucia Udvardyova.

Please visit Audrey’s bandcamp to find her recent album releases.

Aside from her solo SOLO concerts, Audrey is also involved in many projects:

MOPCUT: Lucas Koenig (drums, electronics), Audrey Chen (voice, electronics), Julien Desprez (electric guitar)
VOICE / PROCESS: Audrey Chen (voice), Hugo Esquinca (digital processing)
SEN RYO NO: Tara Transitory, Audrey Chen, Baly Nguyễn (voice and modular synthesizers)
BEAM SPLITTER: Audrey Chen (voice, electronics), Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø (trombone, electronics)
PHIL MINTON + AUDREY CHEN
KAFFE MATTHEWS + AUDREY CHEN
HISS & VISCERA: Audrey Chen (voice) + Richard Scott (modular synthesizer)
AFTERBURNER: Audrey Chen (voice) + Doron Sadja (live electronics and light)

Notable past collaborators include German conceptual artist John Bock and abstract turntablist Maria Chavez.

Chen has performed across Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Canada and the USA. Some festival appearances include: Festival Beyond Innocence (Osaka, JP), Maerzmusik (Berlin, DE), Klangspuren Festival (Schwaz, AT), NUMA Circuit (Tenerife, ES), Sound of Stockholm (Stockholm, SE), Kongsberg Jazz Festival (Kongsberg, NO), Jazz Saalfelden (Saalfelden, AT), Plateaux Festival (Torun, PL), Color Out of Space (Brighton, UK), Wels Music Unlimited (Wels, AT), 2PI Festival (Hangzhou, CN), Jazz a Luz (Luz-Saint-Saveur, FR), Festival Muzzix (Lille, FR), La Voix est Libre (Toulouse/Paris, FR), Total Meeting (Tours, FR), Now Now Festival (Sydney, AU), Uncool Festival (Poschiavo, CH), the Next Festival (Bratislava, SK), Colour Out of Space (Brighton, UK), Donau Festival (Krems, AT), Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville/FIMAV (CA), Festival Ecuatoriano de Música Contemporánea (Quito,Ecuador), Elevate Festival (Graz, AT), Ear We Are (Biel, CH), Meteo Festival (Mulhouse, FR), Angelica Festival (Bologna, IT), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna, AT) and Wien Modern (Vienna, AT). And venues such as: Covent Garden (London, UK), Radialsystem (Berlin, DE), Zacheta National Gallery (Warsaw, PL), Museé du quai Branly (Paris, FR), Radio France (Paris, FR), Theatre Bouffes du Nord (Paris, FR), Auditorio de Tenerife (Tenerife, ES), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires, AR), Bimhuis, (Amsterdam, NL), Rote Fabrik (Zurich, CH), Teatro Fondamenta Nuove (Venice, IT), DOM (Moscow, RU), Anton Kern Gallery (NYC, US), Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna, AT), Lille Opera (Lille, FR) and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center (Water Mill, NY, US).Since 2011, she relocated to Berlin, Germany from Baltimore, MD USA and continues to maintain an active international touring schedule.

Audrey travels from Berlin.