Šalter Ensemble operates on the border between free improvisation and composition, focusing on collective processes as a central part of its practice. The project is an international electroacoustic ensemble initiated in 2017 by Jonas Kocher in collaboration with Zavod Sploh Ljubljana and Izlog Festival Zagreb, and has since performed at numerous venues and festivals in Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and Serbia. In 2021, the ensemble released the album Štiri dela.
The ensemble consists of outstanding personalities from the Swiss music scene, the Slovenian music scene and, in this year’s edition, exposed representatives of the Styrian music scene. The musicians come from a wide range of backgrounds – from jazz to traditional and folk music to contemporary improvised and electronic music – and are from different generations.
In its current programme, Šalter presents new compositions by Jonas Kocher & Gaudenz Badrutt, Elisabeth Harnik and Tomaž Grom, which were developed especially for Šalter during a residency in Venice.
Gaudenz Badrutt, electronics, Estelle Beiner, violin, Ilia Belorukov, saxophone, Tomaž Grom, double bass, electronics, Elisabeth Harnik, piano, objects, Josef Klammer, augmented percussion, Jonas Kocher, accordion, Samo Kutin, hurdy gurdy, Alfred Lang, trumpet, Irena Z. Tomažin, voice
Artistic direction by Kocher & Badrutt, Harnik, Grom
