Šalter Ensemble operates on the border between free improvisation and composition, focusing on collective processes as a central part of its practice. 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.
The 2024 tour marks the release of the album Tri dela, published on 3 May 2024 by Editions Bruit & Sploh.
All reviews of the album
In its current programme, Šalter presents three compositions:
Interstices / Interferences (2023) by Jonas Kocher & Gaudenz Badrutt
šum III (2023) by Elisabeth Harnik
My Wish Your Command (2023) by Tomaž Grom
Line-up 2023: 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
The twenty-eighth Ring Ring festival concluded with a remarkable performance by the Šalter ensemble, an all-star ten-member electroacoustic group known for their impressive repertoire and exceptional creativity and skill. The ensemble performed three compositions specially written for this new concert program: “Interstices / Interferences” by Jonas Kocher and Gaudenz Badrutt, “My Wish Your Command” by Tomaž Grom, and “šum III” by Elisabeth Harnik. The performance’s almost classical seriousness, focusing on tonal and dynamic quality, was delightfully contrasted by the ensemble’s jovial immediacy. Highlights included a several-minute “explanation” by Badrutt in a difficult Swiss-German dialect without translation and a solo performance by a programmed robot on Tomaž Grom’s snare drum. It was a truly exemplary Ring Ring concert to conclude the festival ! Marco Prokic, Jazzin.rs
