Zeitkratzer was founded in 1999. Its concept of a European soloists ensemble is unique worldwide. The nine musicians, the light and the sound engineer live in different European cities from Vienna via Amsterdam to London and meet for working phases at Berlin. Here, new projects are developed - in recent years as a steady guest of the Volksbuehne Berlin.

Zeitkratzer finances itself through free projects and international concerts and thus is independant of institutional investors. This freedom allowed idiosyncratic and pathbreaking programs that made zeitkratzer internationally recognized. The repertoire comprises works and projects by and with such different musicians as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Lou Reed, Carsten Nicolai, John Cage, Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke, James Tenney, Helmut Oehring, La Monte Young, Merzbow, Alvin Lucier, … as well as many interdisciplinary cooperations.

Zeitkratzer has realized all those projects with different musicians and artists without ever worrying about preserving the “purity” of new music. Music, especially so-called new music, thrives on continuous contamination. The idea of „pure taste“ as an independent aesthetic category was revealed by Pierre Bourdieu to be a medium of social distinction. “Thus, pure taste is based on nothing else but a rejection or rather disgust for the objects that ‘force us to enjoy’, such as disgust for such crude, vulgar taste that is also appealing in this forced enjoyment.“ (Pierre Bourdieu (1987). Die feinen Unterschiede. Frankfurt am Main. p.761)

Zeitkratzer benefits from its musicians, their advanced and unique playing techniques, their acquaintance with electronics and technologies, their hybrid experience backgrounds: new or improvised music, experimental Rock and Pop, Noise, Ambient, Folk Music, … Meanwhile, the awards range from the German Jazz Award (Frank Gratkowski) via a fellowship at the Kings College Cambridge (Anton Lukoszevieze) to a composition commission by the French state (Reinhold Friedl).

Tours brought zeitkratzer to many European countries, Zeitkratzer regularly performs at renowned festivals from Madrid, Rome or London to Vienna, Budapest and Berlin. Meanwhile there is more than ten record releases, many important European broadcasting stations have recorded and broadcasted their concerts. With zeitkratzer RECORDS there now exists an own record label too.

Zeitkratzer musicians:

Reinhold Friedl ::: artistic director, piano
Burkhard Schlothauer ::: violin
Anton Lukoszevieze ::: cello
Uli Phillipp ::: double bass
Maurice de Martin ::: percussion
Marc Weiser ::: electronics, soprano
Franz Hautzinger ::: trumpet
Frank Gratkowski :::clarinet, saxophone
Hayden Chisholm ::: clarinet, bagpipe

Ralf Meinz ::: sound
Andreas Harder ::: light
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