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Anna Jónsdóttir (Soprano), Ursel Schlicht (piano), and Ute Vöelker (accordion), three musicians who met through their residencies at Art Omi: Music, formed an unusual trio to reinterpret a set of Icelandic folk songs and present them in a thoroughly modern setting. They’ve now toured and performed in Iceland and Germany. Join Art Omi: Music Program Director Jeffrey Lependorf in this month's virtual presentation to watch and listen to excerpts of their performances as chat about creating collaborative music across borders and countries.
Anna Jónsdóttir is an Icelandic soprano, whose repertoire stretches from ancient times to the present. She is passionate about premiering new music, singing operatic arias and whatever else touches her heart. It was during her music residency at Art Omi that her deep interest in Icelandic indigenous music first manifested, as well as her desire to connect people, art and cultural heritage, which led to her collaboration with Ursel and Ute. It then continued with her CD: "Var," which was recorded in a herring tank and a lighthouse, and two concert tours which featured Icelandic folk songs and storytelling in unusual places such as old factories, caves, craters and nature. The tours then resulted in an artistic documentary short film in collaboration with Dragos Alexandrescu. In her free time Anna likes to explore nature, write poetry and take photos.
Ursel Schlicht, pianist and composer, focuses primarily on improvised music, jazz and intercultural collaboration. In addition to her deeply personal solo practice, she initiates varied musical interactions with her international community in her “SonicExchange” projects. Building musical relationships with musicians who have experienced flight and migration has become increasingly important in recent years. She holds a PhD from the University of Hamburg and has taught at Columbia University, Rutgers University, Ramapo College of New Jersey and the University of Kassel. Please see her recent performance: Roulette, NYC w Robert Dick viewable here.
Ute Völker Is an accordionist who specializes in improvised music. She gives concerts regularly at international festivals for improvised music where she performs as both a soloist and in different Ensembles. Ute Völker is one of the founding members of the ensemble for new and improvised music, PARTITA RADICALE, whose work includes developing their own improvisational cycles and creating silent-film music, working together with composers and on various theater projects. She also works on interdisciplinary projects with visual artists, video film makers, actors, literati and performers. Ute Völker studied accordion at the Musikhochschule Köln. She then went on to study musicology, German and phonetics in Cologne, Vienna and Paris. She lives in Wuppertal and works as a music teacher at the Musikschule Bochum.
Musician and visual artist Jeffrey Lependorf received his doctorate and masters in music composition from Columbia University and his undergraduate degree from Oberlin Conservatory. A composer of operas and chamber music, he is also a certified master of the traditional Japanese shakuhachi flute, and has performed and had his music performed around the world—literally: a recording of his "Night Pond" for solo shakuhachi once traveled around the globe aboard the Russian space station Mir. His “Masterpieces of Western Music (The Modern Scholar)” audio course can be found at audible.com, and some of his recordings can be found on iTunes and Amazon.com. He also serves as Executive Director of The Flow Chart Foundation.