Björk with RPhil

Last week I had the honor to perform four Björk songs with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their season opening concert. The evening was led by Manoj Kamps. Manoj dreamt up a beautiful program including Sonheim, Rick van Veldhuijzen, Debussy, and Björk, and guided us through it.

Someday We’ll Find Us Rotterdam Philharmonic & Manoj Kamps

music : Björk, Sondheim, van Veldhuijzen, and Debussy

soloists : Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Katherine Dain, Cameron Bernard Jones

photos by Harold de Smet

Angela (a strange loop)

‘What makes Angela, Angela?’ German director Susanne Kennedy and multimedia artist Markus Selg want to know. To find out, they seize on Angela’s existence as dramatic material, following her from birth to death and beyond. Their journey takes her through everyday situations: illness and recovery, waking and sleeping, being born and giving birth, aging and death. The hypothesis is that Angela is made up of millions of experiences and that some of them reflect what others have told her. Angela might ultimately be just a strange loop, an endless sequence. 

Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg explore the new balance of power that exists between bodies, technical objects and machines. With a post-humanist aesthetic and multimedia approach, they put the distortion of the actors resulting from the mask play, lip-synced dialogues and doppelgängers of Germanic folklore to good use. Angela (a strange loop) takes us on a deep dive into the question of identity and consciousness. Angela guides us to one of the fundamental questions of existence: what is the nature of reality and what does ‘I’ represent?

concept, text and direction Susanne Kennedy 
concept and stage design Markus Selg
performance Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Kate Strong, Tarren Johnson, Dominic Santia
voices Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Cathal Sheerin, Kate Strong, Rita Kahn Chen, Rubina Schuth, Tarren Johnson, Susanne Kennedy, Ethan Braun Dominic Santia, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Marie Schleef, Ruth Rosenfeld 
sound design and montage Richard Alexander
soundtrack Richard Alexander, Diamanda La Berge Dramm 
live music Diamanda La Berge Dramm
video design Rodrik Biersteker, Markus Selg 
costume design Andra Dumitrascu
dramaturgy Helena Eckert
light design Rainer Casper
artistic collaboration + touring direction Friederike Kötter Stage
assistant Lili Süper
artistic costume assistant Anastasia Pilepchuk, Anna Jannicke Direction
intern Tobias Klett


production ULTRAWORLD PRODUCTIONS 
management Something Great Artistic 
production management Philip Decker 
technical production management Sven Nichterlein 
stage construction Stefan Pilger 
international distribution Rui Silveira – Something Great 
tour manager Niki Fischer – Something Great
co-producers Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), Festival d’Automne à Paris & Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe (Paris), Festival d’Avignon (Avignon), Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), National Theatre Drama / Prague Crossroads Festival (Prague), Romaeuropa Festival (Rome), Teatro Nacional de São João (Porto) and Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin)

World premiere May 11th 2023 at Théâtre National Wallonie Bruxelles as part of Kunstenfestivaldesarts

photo Julian Schröder

love for Chimp

Thrilled that Chimp has been getting so much attention. Here’s a collection !

The one I’m most proud of is the Quietus Album of the Week. I’ve been a fan of the Quietus for a long time, so this write up by Marthe Lisson is a real honour. “…Chimp is a grand debut of experimental classical music. While many instrumentalists are satisfied with playing immaculately ever faster, it is the exploration and acceptance of imperfection (whatever that means) that distinguishes the artist from the musician. That and a never-ending curiosity and thirst to learn and expand one’s own skills and repertoire. I hear all of that in Diamanda La Berge Dramm’s Chimp, a pursuit of true artistry.”

**** from Leon Pouwels in Written in Music (NL). Interesting write up about empathy, fantasy, and being the architecture of one’s own fraternisation.

Psychedelic Baby Magazine had the album premiere, and did an extensive piece on it – coining ‘unviolincing’.

An intriguing write up from Loth Ezeridge at God is in the TV who is baffled and charmed.

Mr. Olivetti at Freq.org.uk writes about ‘violin balm lapping against his consciousness’.

**** from Ian D. Hall at Liverpool Sound and Vision who talks from the poetic perspective.

Not online but worth a mention : a meaningful piece by Renee van Peer in the fall issue of Gonzo Circus about the apes.

My first Portugese review by Tiago Farinha in Treshold Magazine !

Willem Breuker Prize 2022

Beyond grateful to have won the Willem Breuker Prize. The prize is awarded every two years to a musician whose work is characterised by ‘freedom, hearty audacity, and a completely open mind.’

The Willem Breuker Prize 2022 will be awarded during a double concert of the duo Maarten Ornstein-Mike Fentross, and me. The organization was not able to hand out an award in 2021, because of corona measures in the music sector. Consequently, this year the jury will hand out two awards of equal value. The Willem Breuker Prize exists of a prize of 15.000 euro and a sculpture by Wim T. Schippers.

The biennial Willem Breuker Prijs is awarded to those who show kinship with Willem Breuker’s groundbreaking and inventive methods. Willem Breuker (1944-2010) supported a new music landscape with everything he did: he was a composer, saxophonist and clarinetist; he traveled the globe for thirty-five years with his own ensemble, Willem Breuker Kollektief; he ran a record company, BV Haast; and for decades he organized the festival Klap op de Vuurpijl for jazz, improvised, and contemporary classical music.

The prize gives me the time and space to develop deeper. It’s also moment to reflect and be grateful to everyone who has helped me get to where I am, both teachers and collaborators.

From the jury report : “…She’s an authentic presence in the instrumental domain, and a role model when it comes to using the instrument as a means to an end, and not an end in itself.’

Concert and party on November 4th, 20:30, BIMHUIS, Amsterdam

more info about Willem Breuker

The Quietus

The Quietus featured Chimp as album of the week.

Really touched by the wonderful write up. Read it here

“…Chimp is a grand debut of experimental classical music. While many instrumentalists are satisfied with playing immaculately ever faster, it is the exploration and acceptance of imperfection (whatever that means) that distinguishes the artist from the musician. That and a never-ending curiosity and thirst to learn and expand one’s own skills and repertoire. I hear all of that in Diamanda La Berge Dramm’s Chimp, a pursuit of true artistry.”