Vera Kappeler, Jacques Demierre and Joyfulnoise Orchestra at IRTIJAL ’15

Founded in 2000, Irtijal is presently the oldest music festival of the city of Beirut, and one of the longest standing international festivals of post-war Lebanon. Irtijal is organized by MILL, a non-profit association founded in 2000 by musicians Mazen Kerbaj and Sharif Sehnaoui, with the intent of promoting contemporary and experimental practices in music, and assisting projects that do not fit within the Lebanese mainstream, yet still present undeniable artistic value.

About Vera Kappeler
Vera Kappeler was born in Basel in 1974. She studied piano at the Winterthur Conservatory and jazz piano in Basel. She performs and records with a variety of projects such as Marianne Racine’s Tuliaisia, Felix Profos’ Forcemajeure, Christoph Irniger’s Pilgrim, Los Dos & Orchestra’s Hermanos, and as a solo artist. Kappeler has appeared at several international festivals and was appointed ‘Artist in residence’ in renowned Zurich Jazzclub Moods in 2010.

About Jacque Demierres
Born in Geneva in 1954, Swiss pianist Jacques Demierre works in jazz, improvised music, contemporary music and sound installations, as well as composing for concerts, theater and dance. He studied at the University of Geneva, at the Conservatoire Populaire (piano, jazz piano, electroacoustic music), and at the Geneva Conservatory (music theory). He gave up on classical piano early on, to focus his attention on jazz improvisation. Demierre has worked with Dorothea Schürch, Radu Malfatti, Hans Koch, Martial Solal, Han Bennink, Joëlle Léandre, Carlos Zingaro and Ikue Mori, among others. He regularly gives solo concerts and performs in trios with Lucas Niggli and Barry Guy, and with Urs Leimgruber and Barre Phillips. He is also a freelance music writer and writes for Contrechamps, a magazine which focuses on twentieth century music.

About Joyfulnoise Orchestra
Hailing from Biel, Switzerland, Hans Koch studied at the Conservatory in Biel and Zurich, and began his musical career as a classical clarinetist. He met Martin Schütz at the Conservatory in 1978, following which the two musicians formed a jazz trio, influenced by Horace Silver and John Coltrane, as well as “freer” jazz musicians such as Albert Ayler, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker, before gradually moving to compose their own pieces. During the 80’s, Koch was also a member of Swiss saxophonist Werner Lüdi’s Sunnymoon, alongside Martin Schütz, Stephan Wittwer and Paul Lovens. While on an artist residence in New York in 1987, he played with Andrew Cyrille, Butch Morris, Shelley Hirsch and David Moss, among many others. In 1988, he was a member of the Cecil Taylor European Orchestra. He formed the trio Koch-Schütz-Studer at the beginning of the 90’s.

Cost
25,000 LL

For more information
76.952.387