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You can find past concerts of the years 2007-2016 here.
Welcome to Ensemble SurPlus’s homepage
Il faut continuer (It must go on)
Ensemble SurPlus was founded in 1992 by the eminent pianist and conductor James Avery (1937-2009). The Ensemble performs chamber music ranging from duos to large instrumental combinations. Its primary objective is to give new or unknown works an optimal performance, regardless of compositional style or technical and intellectual demands. After its formation in 1992 the ensemble was invited in the same year to perform at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. In 1993 it was engaged to give the first performance of a contemporary chamber opera at the Archipel Festival in Geneva, which received enthusiastic critical acclaim. Since that time it has gained increasing recognition on the international scene for contemporary music and has been a frequent guest at festivals throughout Europe (Musica Viva, mehr!klang, Donaueschingen) Asia and North America (June in Buffalo, Stanford University, University of Victoria). In addition to performing in traditional concert settings, SurPlus also welcomes experimental projects, improvisation and Music Theater. A close cooperation with Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart has existed since 1994. Most recently the Ensemble has collaborated in the project “New Music Network” funded by the German Ministry of Culture, working with young people in the German school system in order to educate a young public about new music. The ensemble has also collaborated closely with the Experimental Studio of the German Radio (SWR). Numerous CD productions and recordings (Ferneyhough, Clark, Spahlinger, Mahnkopf, Wolpe with Heinz Holliger) document the great versatility of the ensemble. The ensemble is based in Freiburg, Germany.
Christian Kemper – Oboe
Daniel Lorenzo – Piano
Olaf Tzschoppe – Schlagzeug
Trio SurPlus was founded in 1992 by members of the Ensemble SurPlus in Freiburg, Germany with the goal of interpreting new and unknown composers irrespective of style and intellectual or technical requirements. The Trio SurPlus has given numerous premieres and through its efforts created a repertoire for the unusual instrumentation of oboe, piano, and percussion.
Concert series and masterclasses have brought the trio to other European countries as well as Canada, the USA and South-East-Asia. A CD of Trio SurPlus is available on Edition Zeitklang.
Contact Trio SurPlus:
Mail: trio@ensemble-surplus.com
Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (USA)
15th of April 2017 - 20:00
Works of Amy Williams, Eric Moe, Mathew Rosenblum, Bruno Mantovani a.o.
Supported by the Goethe Institute
Concert Hall of Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media
28th of June 2017 - 19:30
Petros Leivadas *1990 „Die neue Art der Brutalität" (2017)
Danbi Jeung *1991 „amoeba 2" (2017)
Matti Heininen *1984 „Spettrale" (2017)
Roni Brenner *1986 „The Freedom Machine" (2017)
Jörg Birkenkötter *1963 „cross-mapped... (l.b.n.l.a.h.)" (2015/16)
Trio SurPlus continues his series of collaborations with German and
international composition classes and presents in co-operation with Incontri,
the institute for new music at the school of music in
Hannover new works from the master and soloist classes from Ming Tsao and
Gordon Williamson. In the works from Greek, South Korea, Finland and Israel
students you can find a wide spectrum of compositional approaches between
complexity and differentiated guided improvisation. The program is rounded
up by the latest written work for Trio SurPlus by also invited Bremen
composer Jörg Birkenkötter.
Christian Kemper - Oboe
Daniel Lorenzo - Piano
Olaf Tzschoppe - Percussion
Haus zur lieben Hand, Freiburg
19th of October 2017
Kunsthaus sans titre, Potsdam
26th of May 2018
E-Werk Freiburg
03th of July 2018, 20:00
The cellist Beverley Ellis was born in Scotland and grew up in Australia. She studied music at the University of Adelaide, then with William Pleeth in London and finally at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, where she graduated with the Soloist’s Diploma in 1987. From 1990 to 1994 she was principal cellist in the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester in Mannheim, with which she regularly appeared as soloist (concertos by Haydn, Boccherini and Stamitz).
She lives in Freiburg, teaching and playing, both as a soloist (Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Elgar) and in various chamber groups, covering works from early music (on Baroque cello) with the Kammerorchester Basel, up to music of the present day. She has been a member of Ensemble SurPlus since 1995 and has played as guest artist in other ensembles for new music, including Aventure and musikFabrik. She has participated in numerous radio and CD recordings and appears regularly in concerts and festivals internationally.
Born in 1965 in Trier. Without beginning first with the violin, he was immediately drawn to the viola and had lessons on that instrument with Rudolf Reiet in Trier and Eckart Schloifer in Saarbrücken. During that time he received a prize from the German State of Rheinland-Pfalz.
He continued his studies with Ulrich Koch at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg and later with Madeleine Prager at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe. At the same time he visited the Foundation Villa Musica where he performed with Martin Ostertag, Yuri Bashmet and Irena Grafenauer. Further stipends brought him to Walter Levin at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Emerson Quartet and Lynn Harrell at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and to other orchestras in which he played under Simon Rattle and David Zinman.
After his studies in Freiburg and Karlsruhe Bodo Friedrich was assistant solo violist in the Philharmonisches Orchester in Freiburg until he decided to devote his time to the string quartet (first the Ophelia Quartet and then the Artemis Quartet).
Since 1998 Bodo Friedrich is solo violist in the Kammerorchster Basel, since 1997 in the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie in Augsburg and is often a welcome guest as solo violist in the Kölner Kammerorchester. He is a founding member of Ensemble SurPlus.
Christian Kemper was born in Düsseldorf in 1969. He studied oboe with Martin Schie at the Folkwang-University Essen/Duisburg, with Thomas Indemühle at the University of Music in Karlsruhe and he took lessons with Peter Veale during the International Summer Courses in Darmstadt. He also completed studies in music theory with Bernd Asmus in Karlsruhe. He is a member of the Initiative für Neue Musik SUONO MOBILE (Stuttgart) as well as of the Freiburg-based ensembles SurPlus and Chronophonie. Moreover he is co-founder of the ensemble Chambre d'écoute, which combines contemporary chamber music with music from different periods and experimental concepts. As a performer and lecturer he travelled in numerous European countries, in the United States, South America and Asia. He taught music theory at the Universities of Music in Freiburg and Stuttgart and is currently a lecturer at the University of Music in Karsruhe.
Erich Wagner was born in Todtnau, Germany. Musical studies with Dieter Klöcker at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg and with Hans Pfeifer at the Musikhochschule in Mannheim. Solo bass clarinetist in the Anhaltische Philharmonie in Dessau since 1993. As founding member of Ensemble SurPlus and with Ensemble United Berlin and Trio e-vent he has concertized extensively throughout Europe, Indonesia, Russia and America. He has made numerous recordings for radio and commercial labels, and has given master classes and concerts at the Conservatories of Music in Shanghai and Shenyang.
An avid interpreter of contemporary music and accomplished chamber musician, pianist Daniel Lorenzo performs at leading international festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, Experimental Festival Tokyo, Gulbenkian Lisbon, Diaghilev Festival Perm, Schumannfest Düsseldorf, Musica Strasbourg, Schoenberg Center in Vienna, Philharmonie Essen, ZKM Karlsruhe, Darmstadt Summer Courses, Heidelberger Frühling, among others.
He studied piano in his hometown of Barcelona and at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, USA with Carmen Martínez-Pierret and Luiz de Moura Castro. In Berlin, he focused on art song interpretation with Eric Schneider, Wolfram Rieger, Axel Bauni and Matthias Goerne and performed in recitals with Christiane Oelze, Sibylla Rubens, Verena Rein and Stephan Genz, among others. In 2009-10, Daniel Lorenzo was a fellow of the International Ensemble Modern Academy and ‘Creator-in-Residence’ at Tokyo Wonder Site (Japan) in 2011.
Furthermore, he studied 20th century music at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he obtained his doctorate on Basque composer Luis de Pablo with highest honours (‘très honorable avec félicitations du jury’) in 2013.
Daniel Lorenzo’s discography includes recordings with Peters/Naxos, Ensemble Modern Media and Capriccio/Delta Music. He is a founding member of the contemporary music ensemble MAM.manufaktur für aktuelle musik, a member of Trio SurPlus and a guest musician in the Ensemble Modern and in Ensemble Linea (Strasbourg).
Born in Breno, Italy. Studies in clarinet at the Conservatory of Music in Brescia and with Dieter Kloecker at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg. Various prizes in international competitions. Concert activity as a soloist and in chamber music throughout Europe and the United States. Numerous recordings for radio and commercial labels. Member of Ensemble SurPlus since 1993.
Musical studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg, and at the University of Michigan, USA. Founding member of Ensemble SurPlus. Since 1992 Member of Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Professor of percussion at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen. Frequent concert activities as soloist and in chamber music ensembles. Guest appearances with the musikFabrik and the Klangforum.
Pascal Pons was born in 1968 in Nice. He studied at the Conservatoire National de Région in Nice with Rodolphe Palumbo and in Versailles with Sylvio Gualda. He completed his studies(Soloist’s Diploma) with Bernhard Wulff at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg. His concert activity as a soloist has taken him throughout Europe and other countries such as Mongolia, the Ukraine, Argentina, Uruguay and Taiwan. Pascal Pons is a member of Ensemble SurPlus and performs regularly with Ensemble Modern, Klangforum, musikFabrik and the Kammerensemble für Neue Musik in Berlin. He has been professor of percussion at the Conservatoire des hautes études musicales in Neuchâtel/La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) since 2005, and since 1996 instructor of marimba and vibraphone at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg.
Already during his violin studies at the Musikhochschulen in Stuttgart, Basel and Berlin, Stefan Häussler concentrated on contemporary ensemble music. As a soloist he has performed the violin concertos by Schönberg and Berg, composers of the New Vienna School, and participated in numerous premiere performances and radio recordings of works for various instrumental combinations. In addition, Stefan Häussler studied musicology, philosophy and art history at the Universities of Basel and Freiburg. Aside from his concert activity he instructs violin pedagogy at the Musikhochschule in Basel, and is a teaching fellow in musicology at the University of Basel.
Sven Kestel was born in 1966 in Stuttgart. He studied double bass with Thomas Stabenow, visited the Swiss Jazz School in Bern and continued his double bass studies with Wolfgang Stert at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg. He has attended master classes given by Ludwig Streicher (Vienna), Klaus Stoll (Berlin) and Michinori Bunya (Würzburg). He is a founding member of Ensemble SurPlus. Guest appearances in Switzerland, Luxemburg, the Ukraine, Austria, Russia, Greece, Italy, Indonesia and America. Since 1996 a member of the Tangoensemble Guardia Vieja. From 1997 to 1998 bassist in the Philharmonisches Orchester in Freiburg. In southwestern Germany as jazz bassist with The Loungecore Poets and as freelancer in other small and big bands. From 1998 to 2000 he was part of the orchestra for the musical Die Schöne und das Biest in Stuttgart, and since 1999 solo bassist in the basel sinfonietta. In 2001 he founded the concert agency SAM-Kulturmanegement.
