ArtistInfo

Splitter Orchester

Band, *2010 DE, Berlin
Electronic and Jazz

The Splitter Orchester, founded in 2010, is a Berlin-based collection of internationally respected Composer-Performers which draws inspiration from many genres, most noticibly contemporary/improvised music. Splitter Orchester originates from the “Echtzeitmusik” scene, which emerged in Berlin in the mid-1990s – a locally based and globally networked experimental music scene and long-term platform for the exchange of artistic ideas. All members of the Splitter Orchester are simultaneously composers, interpreters and improvisers that collectively elude clear classification – an ensemble most comfortable in the creative borderland between composed and improvised music. They utilize a broad variety of extended techniques on traditional, electronic, and especially constructed/tailored instruments. The main focus in their artistic practice is the production of sound (as opposed to musical material) and on how to diffuse it in space. The collaborative nature of musical creation within a Composer-Performer context is integral – from the first sketch to the performance. Ten different nationalities are represented in the orchestra, although all members are based Berlin. Splitter Orchester is an example of how the contemporary music scene in an international context is changing and experimenting, especially in Berlin with newer forms of musical communication and presentation. Splitter Orchester is not a homogeneous body, but consists of a variety of autonomous and ultra-specialized musicians/composers who choose not to work in an institutionalized framework and put existing hierarchies in the music establishment in question. The whole group relies on each member equally and deliberately denies established leadership roles to create an experimental production field, which is process-oriented and, therefore, socially relevant in a broader sense. The long-term ongoing collective work processes of the orchestra utilises a wide range of improvisational and compositional approaches – analysing and contextualising specific methods and practices of composition and improvisation. Over five years of experimentation, the ensemble has developed an extraordinary artistic profile and specific group sound.

Members

	Werner Dafeldecker b, cb *1964 AT
	Robin Hayward tu *1969 GB
	Kai Fagaschinski cl, p *1974 DE
	Boris Baltschun sampler, org *1974 DE
	Burkhard Beins perc *1964 DE
	Axel Dörner tr *1964 DE
	Matthias Müller tb *1971 DE
	Ignaz Schick ttbl *1972 DE
	Clare Cooper hrp *1981 AU
	Liz Allbee tr *1976 US
	Morten J. Olsen dr, perc
	Clayton Thomas cb, b *1976 DE
	Sabine Vogel fl
	Anthea Caddy vc AU
	Chris Heenan as, bcl, syn *1969 US
	Mario De Vega
	Marta Zapparoli DE
	Helena Gough GB
	Simon James Phillips p *1973 AU
	Penelopex
	Biliana Voutchkova vn *1972
	Anat Cohavi
	Julia Reidy