Dis/integrate

Dis/integrate was an exchange between artists based in Germany and the USA. Originally it was planned that Geoffrey Deibel and Jonathan Nichol would work with Nikola Lutz, Mark Kysela and saxophone students at the Stuttgart State University for Music and Performing Arts in June 2020. Due to the Corona crisis some adjustments had to be made. After online rehearsals, the project culminated in a streamed concert of new music for saxophone and electronics on October 3, 2020.

Dis/integrate is inspired by the idea of coming together and falling apart as well as individual and group identities, issues that are omnipresent in international and local politics as people continue to argue about borders and exclusion. During the Corona crisis, these borders have been reinforced and new borders have been established. These themes are represented in various ways in the pieces that are presented. The timbral self-similarity of the saxophone ensemble is suggestive of a group. The music itself also often plays with synchronicity. Just to name a few examples: In Alexander Grebchenko’s 120° the saxophone duet begins together but slowly drifts apart harmonically and rhythmically. Joshua Hyde’s Bring mir einen Engel zurück also begins rhythmically together. The work revolves around a descending quarter-tone scale that is passed around the quartet, offset by a fraction of a second to create a blurring effect. Joseph Michaels’ Out of Focus features music that is constantly blurred and refocused, both rhythmically and harmonically. A central concept of the piece is the musical inclusion of the latency problem.

Although the musical metaphors are subjective interpretations, the performance and creative forces behind the project are concrete examples of cultural exchange and discourse.

Graphic design by Nicolas Zupfer.

Video by Luis von Wolff.