Sculpting Air In The Sub Habitat

Lotte Anker

Sculpting Air in The Sub Habitat (subtitle: Texture and Form in Composition for Larger Ensemble of Improvisers) is an exploration and unfolding of creative processes in composing for a larger ensemble (6+ musicians) of improvisers as well as the processes in the ensemble rehearsals and concerts. In Sculpting Air, I am both composer and performer. I work with an ensemble created for this project: Sub Habitat. Sub Habitat members are: Lotte Anker (DK), Mazen Kerbaj (GER/LBN), Katt Hernandez (S/USA), Nina de Heney (S), Sten Sandell (S), Andrea Neumann (GER), Burkhard Beins (GER) Sculpting Air grew out of a need to deepen, (re)examine and challenge my compositional practice (including aesthetic preferences and inclinations) within a larger ensemble of improvisers, and I went into the project looking for something: more or less vague, fragmented notions of particular sonic and textural qualities and structural concepts. Notions of a higher degree of connectedness between predetermined and undetermined elements in composition etc. The project is based on my own compositional work and 4 ensemble Sessions and Session concerts during 2020-22. It includes examples and reflections from these processes, and through them I try to articulate answers to the following research questions: Based on the concepts of texture, MODE and LIBRARY, how can I develop new compositional tools for a larger ensemble of improvisers in a music that reflects the sonic palette and expression of the individual musician, the expression and identity of the ensemble as an entity, and my artistic intention? Including: How can these tools be deployed as sculpting materials in a large form piece, where the predetermined and indeterminate elements mutually reinforce each other and thus help to extend the musical space? How can I explore the sonic potential of the ensemble in dialogue with the musicians? How does the ensemble's overall expression inform my compositional work and vice versa? In score form, how can I develop a specific vocabulary, concepts and notational forms that clarify my artistic intention and convey the balance between the predetermined and indeterminate elements of the composition?

Sub Habitat

Lotte Anker: saxophones (DK)

Mazen Kerbaj: trumpet/objects (GER/LBN)

Katt Hernandez: violin (S/USA)

Nina de Heney: double bass (S)

Sten Sandell: piano/keys/voice (S)

Andrea Neumann: inside-piano (GER)

Burkhard Beins: drums/percussion (GER)

Due to the projects focus on timbre and sound, I thought of musicians who cover a wide sonic and expressive range. All Sub Habitat members work with various highly individualized extended techniques and/or with additional objects integrated into their instrumental set-ups.

Sub Habitat members have extensive experience working in the areas between improvisation and composition: as performers, composers, composer-performers and so on. In addition, several of the members have been (or are currently) involved in artistic research projects.

I was also looking for project participants who would be willing to engage in discussions regarding: the music, approaches and issues related to composition/improvisation and life in general.

Having worked with everyone in various other constellations before Sub Habitat came into being, I had - and still have - great respect for their individual artistry, and who they are as human beings.