In 2010, Markus Stockhausen and four exceptional Greek musicians (Antonis Ladopoulos, Vassilis Rakopoulos, Sami Amiris) opened the Onassis Cultural Centre’s music season, doing so extramurally, at the Goethe Institut, because the OCC building on Syngrou Avenue had still to be inaugurated. The combo performed a kaleidoscopic, multidimensional programme which began with Katolophyromai [“I lament so much"] the title of a musical fragment from the first stasimon of Euripides’ Orestes, and ended in an improvised sequences of phrases, rhythms and harmonies which defies classification. Theirs was a complex soundscape of extreme but homogenized breadth, ranging from antique chromatic tetrachords to attempts at a contemporary idiom melodic, human and free of everything that has not withstood the test of time.
This year, the group returns with two additional members, both of them leading lights on the contemporary music scene: the veteran bassist Arild Andersen, who helped make the term ‘European jazz’ meaningful, and the rising star, Patrice Héral, a drummer and percussionist whose extraordinary range of interests makes him extraordinarily sought after.
Markus Stockhausen is one of the most charismatic and versatile artists of our times. A trumpeter and composer, his interest in classical music, jazz and the avant garde dates back to early childhood. His father, Karlheinz (a major figure in the post-war avant garde) served as his mentor for a quarter century, writing works for him, while he has also collaborated with his brother, Simon, another exceptional musician. Markus Stockhausen has been commissioned to write vocal and symphonic works for a number of celebrated ensembles, including the London Sinfonietta, Orchestra d’Archi Italiana, RIAS Chamber Choir and the Swiss Jazz Orchestra. Apart from playing in a range of celebrated jazz ensembles, he currently composes for the cinema, teaches and works as a trumpet soloist. He has over 60 recordings in his discography to date.
He appears regularly in Greece (Cyclades, June 2011: Syros, Tinos, Paros, Naxos) and frequently collaborates with Greek musicians including Vangelis Katsoulis, Dimitrios Dorian Kokiousis, Takis Farazis and Yiorgos Kaloudis in addition to his three partners in “Conference”.
Markus Stockhausen: trumpet - Antonis Ladopoulos: saxophone - Vassilis Rakopoulos: guitar - Sami Amiris: piano - Arild Andersen: bass
