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ENSEMBLES 

 Pics by Oliver Röckle      

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LAB51 

LAB51 is an interdisciplinary duo founded in 2016 by Johanna Vargas and Magdalena Cerezo, with the aim of extending the contemporary repertoire for coloratura soprano and piano, and developing a new concept of Liedduo. In this context, both artists work together in order to intertwine vocal, multimedia and performance art with classical singing and piano playing within their projects and performances. The collaboration between Johanna and Magdalena started during their contemporary music studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart under Prof. Angelika Luz and Prof. Nicolas Hodges, respectively. Since then, LAB51 has worked with composers such as Gerhard Stäbler, Johannes Kreidler, Bernhard Lang, Wolfgang Rihm, Hans-Joachim Hespos, Gregor Mayrhofer, Benjamin Scheuer, Hans Thomalla or Óscar Escudero & Belenish Moreno-Gil, and has received musical advice from world-class artists such as Sarah Maria Sun, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, Georg Nigl, Julia Mihály, Anika Rutkofsky (Stuttgart Opera House), Christian Dierstein or Hartmut Höll. Highlights from the 2018-19 season included engagements at NUNC!3 (Northwestern University Chicago), the New Music Series of Goethe Institut-Schwäbisch Hall, and ZeitGenuss Festival Karlsruhe, curated by Johannes Kreidler and alongside artists such as Ensemble Mosaik and Enno Poppe. During the same period, the duo took part at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik and won the first prize at the John Cage Competition in Halberstadt, Germany. During the season 2020-21, LAB51 was a featured ensemble of the Munich Society of New Music, performing at the portrait concert of composer and conductor Gregor Mayrhofer. Together with Vanessa Porter and Thilo Ruck, LAB51 recently premiered and recorded Benjamin Scheuer's "Sprechblasen" for soprano, guitar, percussion, and piano with objects and samplers, at the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Mainz. Upcoming projects include an ensemble residency at Cité Internationale des Arts Paris, as well as concerts at RESIS Festival (Spain) and Royaumont Abbey & Foundation. LAB51's performances have been broadcasted internationally (Deutschlandfunk, RTVE, Radio Nacional Clásica Argentina, among others). A CD recording of Wolfgang Rihm's „Ophelia Lieder“ was released last year by Naxos-Capriccio. Since 2018, LAB51 coaches a program in contemporary voice training and performance and curates the concert/project series Out of the box at the University of Music Karlsruhe.

György Ligeti-Mysteries of the Macabre

Annika Rutkofsky & LAB51, dramaturgy

Isabella Koeters, costume design

Julian Siffert, sound & Korinna Herzig, video

Bernhard Lang-The Cold Trip 2: XX. Deviant

LAB51, performance & dramaturgy

Matthias Schneider, sound & Korinna Herzig, video

Chris Beckett, stage & lighting

Georges Aperghis - Retrouvailles

LAB51, dramaturgy

Igor Stepanov, sound

Korinna Herzig, video

The Cold Trip 2: XVIII. Stormy Monday

The Cold Trip 2: XV. The Crow

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f:t

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a new music trio, of three pianists

Founded by Mabel Yu-ting Huang, Magdalena Cerezo Falces, and Jana Luksts. Bringing three established soloists together, f:t features new and pre-existing repertoire for three pianos, six hands, alternative keyboard instruments, and ad-hoc instrumentations. An extensively collaborative unit, f:t takes great care to incorporate their individual artistic visions, as well as collective, in addition to prioritizing influences and partnerships between extra-musical fields. The subsequent programming and performances presented by f:t, are a cohesive reflection of discussion, argument, growth, theatricality, and artistic expression. 

Upcoming engagements include performances at “The Present” Art Festival at Kulturzentrum Immanuelskirche in Wuppertal, Altefeuerwache Köln, Werkstatthaus Stuttgart supported by S-K-A-M e.V., and an audiovisual production of “m-her two severed hands” for piano six hands by NYC-based composer George Katehis at the Musikbrauerei’s Säulenhalle in Berlin.

Most recently, f:t presented their performance-concept «deconstructing» at Gedok Stuttgart (kindly supported by Musikfonds e.V. and Neustart Kultur), participated in a Goethe Institut “Virtual Partner Residency” with composer George Katehis, in order to realize a piece for six hands, and performed on the programme [Ex_Piano_Revisited] on the series Südseite nachts (Theaterhaus Stuttgart), presented by Musik der Jahrhunderte. Later this year, f:t looks forward to releasing a video of Elena Rykova’s “101% mind uploading”, in collaboration with filmmaker Korinna Herzig, made possible by Musik der Jahrhunderte and Landeshaupt Stadt Stuttgart.

Elena Rykova - 100% mind uploading (2015)
Live performance on May 20th 2021 at Musik der Jahrhunderte - Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Georges Aperghis - Les guetteurs de sons (1981)
Excerpt from <<deconstructing>>, November 21st 2021 at GEDOK Stuttgart. 
Supported by Musikfonds e.V.

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