Christof Kurzmann & Prague Improvisation Orchestra
Prague Improvisation Orchestra (PIO) brings together some of Czech's most adventurous and creative musicians, working with conducted and free improvisation, open scores, and graphic notation, often in collaboration with artists from other disciplines. For this concert PIO will be joined by special guest Christof Kurzmann, who will lead PIO through improvisational structures that he will create especially for this occasion while in Prague working with the orchestra.
PIO began in 2012 with a regular group of up to fifteen musicians, and already has collaborated with more than thirty distinguished international artists including musicians, dancers, visual artists and light designers. PIO is focused on contemporary improvisation practice inspired by people like Sun Ra, Mauricio Kagel, Scratch Orchestra, Butch Morris, Splitter Orchestra and others using large groups of musicians in unconventional ways.
A native of Vienna, Christof Kurzmann is a musician in the fields of electropop, improvisation, and new music. He has played concerts in every continent except Australia and is an organizer of various music and media events. Kurzmann runs the small independent label charhizma, which exists to introduce musicians from around the world in various live settings to a wider audience. His current projects include the El Infierno Musical, Harmolodic Affection, Made to Break, and the Orchestra 33 1/3. He currently lives in Buenos Aires and Vienna.
Michaela Antalová – percussion
Georgy Bagdasarov – baritone saxophone
George Cremaschi – contrabass
Jiří Durman – bass clarinet and soprano saxophone
Ken Ganfield – electronics
Veronika Hladká – violin
Michal Matejka – electric guitar
Lisa Mezzacappa – contrabass
Ivan Palacký – knitting machine Dopleta 180, voice
Barbora Šedivá – no-input mixer
Michal Wróblewski – alto saxophone
Zdeněk Závodný – tenor and baritone saxophones
photo (PIO): Vladimír Sabo
Kindly supported by Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague
