Studio Dan

Mica Levi is one of the most idiosyncratic voices in contemporary music. Levi moves effortlessly between avant-garde band projects, experimental chamber music, and an unmistakable sound language for film. Under the title Light, Studio Dan dedicates itself to this unusual, edgy, and often fragile, beautiful music. Levi's flair for radical reduction, unexpected breaks, and floating soundscapes meets the ensemble's versatile sound world. The result is music that lies between improvisational freedom and precise sound design — sometimes shimmering and transparent, sometimes raw and untamed.

The program is complemented by works by the Scottish composer and sound artist Ailie Ormston, whose works are created at the intersection of experimental electronics and chamber music. Ormston often works with open processes, improvisation, and sound collages, and is particularly interested in timbral transformations and fragile musical structures. Ormston received composition commissions from Counterflows and Tectonics, among others, and is currently working on a string quartet for the New York-based JACK Quartet.

An earlier version of this program, featuring music by Mica Levi and Ailie Ormston, was presented in 2024 at London's Barbican (LSO St Luke's) by a mixed ensemble of harp, guitar, saxophones and strings.

Program

Mica Levi

Rat on the Net
Bound
Dream I

Ailie Ormston

Outside Dining Inside
Corridors Then Rolling Fields

Cast

Viola Falb - Saxophone
Florian Fennes - Clarinet, Saxophone
Clemens Salesny - Saxophone
Gunde Jäch-Micko - Violin
Maiken Beer - Cello
Philipp Kienberger - Double Bass, Electric Bass
Elisabeth Plank - Harp
Helene Schütz - Harp
Martin Siewert - Electric Guitar

Xizi Wang - conductor