viennaimprovisersorchestra.org

vıo

about

In the dramatic evidence of sounds
one can find new space and meaning
– from moment to moment.

MICHAEL FISCHER

Photo by vio | VIO at Plastikersaal, Künstlerhaus Wien

By creating conducted instant compositions, the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA engages in a special discourse of experimental composition and complex improvised music for large ensembles: the architecture of a piece of music is designed ad hoc and communicated to the ensemble musicians by the instant composition conductor with hand signs for parameters such as pitch or dynamics, on the basis of which the musicians implement their own ideas.
A terrain for an unforeseen universe of possible sound-spaces and -images is created, potentiated by the fact, that every performance consists of ever new constellations of musicians and usually opens the door for at least one new musician.
The VIO brings together, in ever changing and gender-balanced line-ups, musicians from the scenes of acoustic and electro-acoustic free improvised music, jazz and contemporary composed music.

Interested in the relationships of imagination in sound-texture and recited poetry, since its beginning, the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA has worked with magnificent poets in experimental literature – poets reciting their original poetry simultaneously in ad hoc dialogue with the VIO. > for more info see: HISTORY and ARTISTS (this page, further down)

Within a wide range of collaboration projects and partners, the VIO has performed at festivals such as the Moers Festival, Wien Modern, Festival Artacts, the Vienna Art Week Festival and central venues for the fine arts, the Porgy & Bess, a.m.o. (for more info see: HISTORY, scoll further down)

Michael Fischer, founder, artistic director and instant composition conductor of the VIO, works on the language immanence of sounds and their dramatic evidence on the tenor saxophone/feedback-saxophone, on soundscapes and on conducted instant compositions. As ad hoc conductor he has worked with improvisation orchestras and temporary large ensembles, in the context of festivals and guest lectures/universities at the Johns Hopkins Univ. Maryland, Univ. of California Irvine, Vienna-Bay Instant Composers Oakland, Array Music Space Toronto, Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts Brno, University of Montenegro Music Academy, Bruckner Univ. Linz, Univ. for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Wien Modern, Festival International Improvisación Madrid, Renzo Piano Building/IT, Creative Music Festival Osaka, Univ. for Architecture Vaduz, a.m.o..

The VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA was founded by Michael Fischer in 2004; it is one of the earliest and continuously working improvisation orchestras worldwide.

method & PRAXIS

The Ensemble and the Instant composition conductor in communication – an ephemeral score

 

Photo by vio | VIO at Factory, Künstlerhaus Wien

The VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA focuses on creating conducted instant compositions.
The praxis of Instant composition conducting relates to various concepts of structuring and organising sound in large ensemble improvisations; – ideas which have been originally developed by the like of f.i. Bruno Maderna, John Zorn or, above all, Lawrence D. ‘Butch’ Morris, whose method of ‘conduction’ not only inspired the VIO‘s Instant composition conducting, but has been used and developed by improvising orchestras worldwide.
Within an oscillating process musicians/ensemble and the instant composition conductor, create ad hoc compositions.
With a repertoire of hand-signs for dynamics, pitch, tempo, duration a.o., an architecture of a music piece is formed, balanced, and designed by the conductor; on the basis of freely improvised music, the musicians interprete these signs with their personal individuality and musical experience.

Although the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA works within a continuation of Butch Morris’ ‘conduction’ and has a remote relationship to Walter Thompson’s ‘soundpaining’, the VIO has developed its own praxis (which is one of the reasons why Michael Fischer uses the term ‘instant composition conducting’):

* absolute instant creation – not only by the ensemble, but also by the conductor: no preprepared or agreed-on parts, modules or designs

* no rehearsals, except a short introductory explanation  and trying out the hand-signs, while adjusting to the acoustic space, prior to the concert on the same day – which is important especially for musicians who are participating the first time.

* the conducting is conveyed by a small vocabulary of about 15 hand signs only

* the instant composition usually creates musical space for 35 – 50min

* within the course of an instant composition only a few hand-signs are given

“To bring together diverse musical positions in synergy, support the ensemble to go wherever the collectiv in the musical process wants to go and the texture and its sounds and forms show, is one of the challenges to create an inspired space where everyone is able to contribute her/his most creative ideas.” (M.F.)

Michael Fischer, founder, artistic director and instant composition conductor of the VIO, follows the attitude of Butch Morris to understand the ensemble as an organism that finds important decisions in the creation and development of the musical performance. At the same time, the instant composition conductor is a main initiator of routes, spaces and textures. During the performance, within the polylogical setting, Michael as a conductor is permanently busy with the constant and repetitive process of idea – execution – reflection. Or: analyze – decide – conduct (or stay with the same), listen to the changes – analyze – create and convey new ideas – decide – conduct (or stay with the same) and so forth. The poetic and comunicative requests of the music and their creators are always on his agenda.
His work experience with numerous international improvisation orchestras, as well as large groups or choirs, nourishes Michael’s source of inspiration for the path and direction of his Instant composition conducting and hence the VIO‘s music.

history

since 2004 creating planet VIO’s universe of exchange

Photo by vio | VIO at concert, 2006

Established by Michael Fischer in 2004, the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA‘s experimental explorations involved numerous musicians and poets over a wide scale of projects and collaboration partners. 

Within ever changing ensembles of mostly 14 – 18 musicians, but sometimes also 7 or 36 musicians, often with poets, at times with choir, also multilingual, and always gender-parity oriented, about 350 participants from about 30 countries have been involved so far.

The instant compositional options of merging musical texture and recitation of experimental poetry, their reciprocal influence, mutually recharged meanings, alongside the metamorphosis of sound- and word-images and other phenomena that arise, have been an early additional foundation and beam of the VIO‘s poetic presence. Hence, the VIO often collaborates with splendid writers in experimental literature such as Margret Kreidl, Pete Waugh (engl./german), Petra Ganglbauer, Gerhard Jaschke, Semier Insayif (arab./german), Ferdinand Schmatz, Magdalena Knapp-Menzel, Fritz Widhalm or Gerhard Rühm (founding member of the ‘Wiener Gruppe’), and others. > for more info see: ARTISTS, this page further down

Headers like ‘Ich spreche nicht : Illusionsgebiet Nervenruh’, ‘Libellentänze : Blauflügler jedoch’, ‘inner outer spaces’, ‘The Living Score’, ‘Die Partitur in der Luft’, ‘Momente der Gegenwart’, ‘A neccessity of soul and spirit’, ‘Ein Moment der Archäologie des Geistes’ or ‘Utopie Raum Dynamik’ are indications of the VIO‘s path in creating meaning and significance.

Before the VIO was invited to the legendary Moers-Festival (2022, Germany) it was a guest at Wien Modern, at the Artacts Festival (AT), at the Künstlerhaus Wien (ca. 15 concerts), the Vienna Art Week Festival, the Porgy & Bess, Belvedere21 – Museum of Contemporary Art, at Brut Wien, Reaktor Wien, WirSindWien.Festival, Jazzwerkstatt Wien Festival, Art Brut Center Gugging, Offenes Haus Oberwart, Harom Hollo in Budapest, RadioKulturhaus Wien and many others.

Cooperative projects were realized f.i. with doyenne Josefa Alonso (Madrid expert in conducted large ensemble improvisation) & Instituto Cervantes Vienna, with the BUDAPEST IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA and LeGGRIL (CAN), with Reaktor Wien – Live scoring the russian futurist avantgarde movie ‘AELITA’ (1924, by Jakow Protasanow) > see the 2min teaser, with SohoInOttakring (EU project MELT / Migration In Europe & Local Tradition), with the amateur choir of the Social Art Institution Brunnenpassage Wien, with Kulturkontakt Austria, SeeLab Wien, Grazer Autorinnen Autoren Versammlung, a.m.o..
In 2021, the concert-film ‘Partitur Im Jetzt / In This Present Space‘ was produced with our partner MovingThought – Film + Philosophy at the Odeon Theater, Vienna (funded by the Austrian Ministry of the Arts).

In 2017, the VIENNA IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA initiated the side-project JUMPiN!-CHOIR: a unique participatory format which connects singers in an open called, temporary choir, to perform with the VIO.

Founded by Michael Fischer in 2004, the VIO is one of the earliest and continuously working improvisation orchestras in Europe.

artists

creating together unique spaces of meaning in sound, diversity and imagination

Photo by Tommy Haugsveen | Stars

The core of the most frequently playing musicians numbers around 40 and has changed over time.
So far, more than 200 musicians and poets have been involved – from Vienna … or other places … arriving once … or maybe yesterday – from Lisboa, Amsterdam, Warszawa, Hongkong, Khartoum, London, Madrid, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, – also from Iran, Taiwan, Argentina, Canada, USA, Australia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Switzerland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway.
In addition, within VIO’s 2017 initiated  side project JUMPIN!-CHOIR, about 120 choristers have participated, so far.

text, reading
Petra Ganglbauer
Thomas Havlik
Semier Insayif
Gerhard Jaschke
Mark Kanak
Ilse Kilic
Magdalena Knapp-Menzel
Margret Kreidl
Peter Pessl
Sophie Reyer
Gerhard Rühm
Ferdinand Schmatz
Dieter Sperl
Peter Waugh
Eleonore Weber
Fritz Widhalm

Solo reading
Thomas Ballhausen
Natalie Deewan

voice
Isabell Kargl
Nika Zach
Claudia Cervenca
Boglárka Bábiczki
Sun Sun Yap
Mara Kolibri
Liselotte Lengl
Lise Vinberg
Karine Blanche Seror
Ilse Kilic
Lissie Rettenwander
Dietlind Leandra Höfle
Agnes Heginger
Annette Giesriegl
Susan Blanarik †
Isabella Ernst
Julia Schindelar
Martin Egger

flute, alto flute, recorder
Tahereh Nourani 
Sara Zlanabitnig
Angelina Ertel
Bernadette Zeilinger

bansuri
Rina Killmeyer

clarinet
Elena Arbonies Jauregui
Jake Mann
Mona Matbou Riahi

bass clarinet
Elisabeth Kelvin
Radim Hanousek
Anna Koch
Susanna Gartmayer
Petra Stump-Linshalm

bassoon
Maria Gstättner
Robert Brunnlechner

soprano saxophone
Lisa Hofmaninger
Robert Bilek

alto saxophone
Clemens Salesny
Bernhard Spahn
Gerald Preinfalk
Bea Labikova

tenor saxophone
Nikolaos Afentulidis
Ilse Riedler
Jakob Gnigler
Werner Zangerle
Sandro Miori
Christian Gonsior
Rainer Ochsenhofer
Noah Zeldin

trumpet, cornet
Alexander Kranabetter
Uwe Bressnik
Johannes Bankl
Peter Huber
Alfred Lang
Thomas Liesinger

flugelhorn
Jean-Christophe Mastnak

trombone
Christof Spanring
Mario Vavti
Otto Horvath
Stefan Krist
Piyawat Louilarpprasert

tuba
Elisabeth Falkinger

didgeridoo
Iulia Grigorie

violin
Joanna Lewis
Emily Stewart
Florian Sighartner
Simon Frick
Alexander Gheorghiu
Alyona Pynzenyk
Annelie Gahl
Christoph Hudl
Irene Kepl

viola
Judith Reiter
Christiane Hörlein
Sophia Goidinger-Koch
Klara Vonschnaps
Martina Engel

cello
Clementine Gasser
Margarethe Herbert
Maria Frodl
Clemens Sainitzer
Lukas Lauermann
Irmi Vukovich
Maresuke Okamoto

zither
Martin Mallaun

harp
Maura Knierim
Angela Stummer

horizontal strings
Juun

santur
Roozbeh Nafisi

acoustic guitar
Eric Arn
Martin Herraiz

acoustic bass
Yoram Rosilio
John Edwards
Judith Ferstl
Alessandro Vicard
Peter Herbert
Beate Wiesinger
Martin Burk
Thomas Stempkowski †
Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka
Vinicius Cajado
Benji Fox-Rosen
Nina Polaschegg
Philipp Kienberger

accordion
Simone Baron
Stefan Heckel

vibraphon
Tobias Meissl

piano
Yedda Chunyu Lin
Ursula Schwarz
Sylvia Bruckner

e-guitar
Markus W. Schneider
Fredl Engelmayr
Simone Petracca
Diego Mune
Michael Bruckner
Heli Mühlbacher

e-bass
Herbert Lacina
Jóhann Gunnarsson
Roland Rathmair

synthesizer
Edward Reardon
Vergil Sharkya’

modular synthesizer
Bernhard Loibner

scivolo
Michael Zacherl

theremin
Ng Chor Guan

turntables
Wolfgang Fuchs

electronic devices, sampler
David Pridal
Nino Stelzl
Darja Shatalova
Jörg Piringer
Steffi Neuhuber
Zeynep Sarikartal

superCollider/VideoOSC
Stefan Nussbaumer

laptop
Joao Castro Pinto

percussion
Griffin Brown
Ingrid Oberkanins
Daniel Klemmer
Gitti Sardari

drums
Didi Kern
Valentin Duit
Marcos Baggiani
Michael Prehofer
Judith Schwarz
Alexander Yannilos
Wolfgang Reisinger †
David Schweighart
Raphael Roter
Fabian Faltin

dance
Silvia Both, Marion Steinfellner

participants before 2012

poets, before 2012
Zwetelina Damjanova, Christine Huber, Christian Katt, Nikolaus Scheibner, Rolf Schwendter †, Sakina Teyna, Günter Vallaster, Christoph Vivenz, Bernhard Widder, Mathis Zojer

musicians, before 2012
Salah Addin, Regina Außerwöger, Alfred Bäck, Alexandru Barabas, Jonas Barsten Johnsen, Ben Bauer, Thomas Beck, Johanna Bruckner, Reza Chobel (ney-anban), Morteza Dehghan (dammam), Ernst Dippold, Hannes Enzlberger, Stefan Fraunberger, Reinhard Gagel, Gigi Gratt, Kurosh Hamedan (tonbak), Christian Hart, Tímea Hérics, Petra Hopferwieser, Adrian Ivanitchi, Thomas Kaufmann, Josef Klammer, Sefkan Kocer, Martin Kratky, Hannes Krebs †, Martin Krestan, Thomas Krestan, Iris Kübler, Willi Landl, Thomas Lang, Leni Lust, Andi Menrath, Nadja Milfait, Paul Öller, Pia Palme, Edith Prettner, Maren Rahman, Stefan Roth, Karl Sayer, Karen Schlimp, Georg Schmelzer-Ziringer, Micha Schwarz, Herman Stangassinger, Sibylle Starkbaum, Marie-France Sylvestre, Hassan Taban (daf), Mikolaj Trzaska, Georg Waller, Jan Weiss, Andreas Wohovsky, Erich Wolfesberger

dansers, before 2012
Kordula Fritze, Katharina Meves