SONIQ meets Dublin

In the organizer's words:

18:00 I Concert I 🎤 Concert hall

Roots and innovations, intercultural cosmopolitanism and urban modernity, joie de vivre and contemplation: with SONIQ meets DUBLIN, the Cologne-based collective is once again entering extremely exciting territory in the first half of 2025. In their fourteenth project, Christina Fuchs, Jarry Singla and Ramesh Shotham are seeking an encounter with three musicians who are rooted in Irish musical traditions and at the same time move with fascinating ease in a wide variety of sound universes - from contemporary jazz, tango and Indian music to contemporary hybrids of composition and improvisation.

With the Uilleann Pipes, SONIQ is looking forward to the world's most advanced bagpipe design. Compared to most other bagpipes, the instrument has much more extensive musical possibilities. Accompanying notes to the melody played, chromaticism, dynamics and even pauses can be implemented. In Martin Nolan, SONIQ has been able to recruit an internationally renowned uilleann piper from Dublin, whose artistic range extends from traditional Irish sounds to jazz collaborations with greats such as Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker. His piping style combines legato and staccato techniques in an impressive way.

The Irish button accordion will also play a central role in the project. This button accordion enables the fast tempi, accents and ornaments so typical of traditional Irish dances through rapid changes in pressure and pull. SONIQ's guest is Peter Browne, an award-winning accordionist and composer who also hails from Dublin. Rooted in traditional music since his childhood, the curious musician expands his repertoire through continuous exploration of other musical cultures.

Ronan Guilfoyle - the third guest of this SONIQ project - does not play a traditional Irish instrument. He is a formative figure on the Irish jazz scene and has developed an outstanding international reputation as a bassist, composer and pioneer of advanced rhythmic techniques. In addition to jazz, he is dedicated to composing for classical ensembles. Ronan and the other two guests have worked together for many years. Due to his musical horizon and integrative power, he is a central link for the collaboration.

The artist collective SONIQ was founded in 2016 by the German saxophonist and composer Christina Fuchs, the German-Indian composer and pianist Jarry Singla and the South Indian percussionist Ramesh Shotham. The confrontation with different (musical) cultures is the inspirational breeding ground for all SONIQ projects, which, in addition to their purely musical content, also aim to promote understanding and exchange between people from different cultural backgrounds. The musicians involved in SONIQ are convinced that something new can emerge when the artistic work is fed by the largest possible reservoir of ideas, which constantly receives new impulses through international networking. This idea is the common denominator of all projects.

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Ronan Guilfoyle (bass), Martin Nolan (uilleann pipes and whistles), Peter Browne (button accordion), SONIQ: Jarry Singla (piano, ind. harmonium), Ramesh Shotham (percussion), Christina Fuchs (reeds)