NICA exchange: Stefan Schönegg "Enso: A Simplified Space" & Alistair Payne "This Thread Walks"

In 2022, Scottish composer and trumpeter Alistair Payne, who lives in the Netherlands, was commissioned by the well-known venue BIMHUIS in Amsterdam to compose a piece for the series REFLEX; a concert series that gives musicians the space to bring their personal interpretation of the zeitgeist onto stage. Payne says of the resulting music: "I am strongly influenced by the lyrics and spoken word performances of Tongo Eisen-Martin. The album "This Thread Walks", was written to be a cohesive work where each piece relies on the context of the album. I've tried to create a rollercoaster of sounds and genres, a bit like rolling down the car window in a busy city."

In November 2023, "This Thread Walks" will be released on BIMHUIS Records, along with a live recording made at BIMHUIS on 22 September.

•••
For his ensembles, all under the title Enso, Cologne-based bassist, composer and improviser Stefan Schönegg writes contemporary chamber music for various instrumentations. Since the project was launched in 2016, Schönegg has focused on minimal material that allows for a patient exploration of timbres and melodic gestures and blurs the line between improvisation and composition. Enso has thus become a collective term for a growing number of participants who interpret Schönegg's music with subtlety and attentiveness. In the trio line-up with pianist Marlies Debacker and Etienne Nilessen on the extended snare drum, Schönegg continues to explore the possibilities of Enso. In 2024, the ensemble releases an album in this formation. Recorded at Deutschlandfunk.

•••
The monthly concert series 'NICA live' focuses on the projects and musical preferences of the NICA artists themselves, while 'NICA exchange' adds an international focus and presents promising projects from neighbouring European countries with the aim of creating and strengthening a sustainable network of cooperation on and off stage.