Our summer break is nearly over. We open our autumn programme on Saturday, 5 September with a visit from Australian violinist Jon Rose, who joins us in the year of his 75th birthday with his project Colophony. He will be accompanied by bassist Meinrad Kneer and Richard Barrett on electronics.
A rather special concert has also become possible at short notice on the following Tuesday, 8 September: The Japanese trio Kasokeki Toki invite us to share a faint moment — a kasokeki toki: simply to be present and experience music as it comes into being, freely and without preconditions, before vanishing again — the trace of an ephemeral instant …
Our updated(!) autumn programme is available to download as a PDF: OffeneOhren_eV_Vorschau_Herbst2026.pdf
See you soon — keep your ears open!
Jon Rose, violin, tenor violin (AUS)
Richard Barrett, electronics (GB)
Meinrad Kneer, bass (D)
Photo © Bärbel Schnellen
In 2012, Jon Rose, Meinrad Kneer and Richard Barrett came together in Berlin for the first time in this line-up. The force and musical density of the encounter impressed musicians and audience alike – the decision to continue as a trio was made that very evening. Since then, they have continued to explore the spontaneous interweaving of string instruments and electronics.
The three artists’ sensitivity to timbre and form gives rise to music that can meticulously explore the microscopic life of a texture or leap spontaneously between subtle sonic nuances and abrasive collisions.
Improvising artist Jon Rose (1951) plays violin, all kinds of (self-built) string instruments and even wire fences. Born in England, Jon Rose chose to make Australia his home. He has worked across a wide range of musical genres since the 1970s and became a key figure in the Australian improvisation scene.
Since the early 1980s, Jon Rose has developed his long-term project ‘The Relative Violin’ as a total artform, encompassing new instrument designs, playing techniques and interactive electronics. Closely linked to the project is his Rosenberg Museum, which houses, among other things, self-built and newly conceived string instruments. Jon Rose also works as a writer, curator and radiophonic composer. He has collaborated with numerous leading figures on the international improvisation scene.
Meinrad Kneer (1970) is a double bassist, composer, improviser, bandleader and record-label founder. His work moves between jazz, improvised, contemporary and intercultural music. After studying double bass and music in Hilversum and Amsterdam, he lived in the Netherlands before moving to Berlin around 2011/2012.
His stylistic versatility has led to collaborations with musicians from a wide range of musical backgrounds. He has performed with ensembles including the Ab Baars Quartet, Henneman String Quartet, KNM Ensemble, Ensemble Resonanz and the Marc Sinan Company. Since 2006, he has run the improvised-music label “Evil Rabbit Records”. Since 2025, he has been artistic director of the newly founded contemporary music festival FEST:Spiele Oberschwaben, which he co-curates with Susanne Fröhlich and Marc Sinan.
Richard Barrett (1959) is internationally active as both a composer and improvising musician and has worked with many leading performers in both fields. In his works and musical ideas, the boundaries between composition and improvisation are becoming increasingly less significant.
In the field of contemporary music, he has worked regularly with the Australian ELISION Ensemble since 1990 and is also active in the electronic duo FURT with Paul Obermayer. Since 2003, he has performed regularly with the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Richard Barrett studied composition. He currently teaches at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague. He is also Professor of Creative Music Research at the University of Leiden; he previously held a professorship at Brunel University London.
Colophony is supported by Creative Australia, Australian Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body.
This concert is also made possible by the Federal Culture Prize Applaus, which was awarded to Offene Ohren e.V. in November 2025.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Kanon Aonami, saxophone (J)
Fumi Endo, piano (J)
Toru Nishijima, bass (J)
Photo © Nishioka Hiroki
Kasokeki Toki is a Japanese trio founded in 2022 on the initiative of Toru Nishijima. The name refers to a moment so faint and fleeting that it has almost already disappeared. What the trio attempts is to bring out the relationship between a place, a space, and the people within it, moving back and forth between composition — used as a kind of frame — and free improvisation.
Not to express something, but simply to be. Each of the three inhabits their own independent world — without explaining one another, without completing one another, without hierarchy — and yet these three independent worlds exist simultaneously. What matters is not what is meant to happen, but what happens of its own accord: sounds begin as if they were already there, and vanish before one notices.
‘To simply be present, to listen closely, to wait.’ To remain between control and surrender, between intention and what simply happens. What develops from this remains open — for musicians and listeners alike. Kasokeki Toki is not something finished, but the trace of something in the process of occurring — the movement of sound before it acquires meaning, as well as the time and space that immediately precede that moment.
Toru Nishijima was born in Tokyo in 1973. He began playing violin at age five and took up the bass in high school. With jazz and Argentine tango as his musical foundation, he has worked for many years in a variety of ensembles and projects within the Japanese music scene. He is active across a broad spectrum of genres. From 2014 onwards, he has released various CDs in different settings, from solo to quartet, most recently in 2024 with his own trio project, Kasokeki Toki.
Kanon Aonami was born in Yokohama in 1994. She is an alto saxophonist and composer working between jazz and improvised music. Alongside free improvisation, she also performs her own compositions. In February 2026, she and Fumi Endo were part of an ensemble led by Danish guitarist Jakob Bro, performing six concerts in Denmark with Bro, Chris Speed, Thomas Morgan and Mads Emil Nielsen. Bro had previously heard Aonami and Endo perform live in Tokyo and subsequently invited them to take part in the project.
Fumi Endo (born 1993) has been performing since 2017 and works as a pianist between free improvisation, experimental music and jazz. Her distinctive, minimalist playing style is a defining feature of her work. In 2023, an interview with her appeared in the Japanese online music magazine JazzTokyo.
Kasokeki Toki is supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Startup Grant).
This is the trio's first tour outside Japan and also its German debut in Munich. Listening examples: Kasokeki Toki (幽けき刻) — Toru Nishijima, Kanon Aonami & Fumi Endo, Relativa Records, 2024. [Listen on YouTube]
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
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Jan Roder, bass (D)
Ignaz Schick, alto and tenor saxophone (D)
Oliver Steidle, drums (D)
Photo © Viola Förster von der Lühe
This acoustic trio features three key figures from the contemporary Berlin jazz, improvisation, and experimental music scenes. Although Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is usually the bassist, Jan Roder will perform in his place for part of the current tour due to scheduling conflicts.
While these three musicians have known each other for years through various projects (such as Soko Steidle, Die Dicken Finger, Die Feuchte Hand, and SSRF), this marks their first time performing together in this specific line-up.
The encounter brings together Ignaz Schick’s lyrical yet energetic alto saxophone, Jan Roder’s intensely pulsating bass, and Oliver Steidle’s rhythmically intricate drumming. This wonderfully fresh trio is deeply committed to the roots of free jazz and free improvisation. The resulting music is pure, melodic, rhythmic, high-energy, and surprising, all while remaining rooted in tradition.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
In this multifaceted encounter, Taiwanese ensemble 3PEOPLEMUSIC and Munich-based improviser Gunnar Geisse meet for the first time in the realm of free improvisation.
3PEOPLEMUSIC brings the multifaceted sound world of traditional Chinese instruments into a contemporary context, opening it up to new experimental playing techniques. In their interaction with Gunnar Geisse, who weaves complex sonic textures through his cross-disciplinary aesthetic and electroacoustic instrumentation, a dynamic dialogue emerges.
Together, the four performers explore the tension between the original acoustic sound of the instruments, electronic transformation and the unpredictable moment – creating a spontaneous listening experience that takes shape in the moment.
三個人 - Sān gèrén - 3PeopleMusic
JEN Chung, dizi and xiao (Chinese bamboo flutes) [Taiwan]
KUO Jing-mu, guzheng (Chinese zither)[Taiwan]
PAN I-tung, zhongruan (Chinese lute) [Taiwan]
Photo © Eric Van Nieuwland
3PEOPLEMUSIC is a unique chamber ensemble comprising three musicians specialising in traditional Chinese instruments: guzheng player KUO Jing-mu, zhongruan player PAN I-tung and dizi and xiao player JEN Chung. The ensemble combines in-depth expertise in classical Chinese music with contemporary perspectives.
Since its founding in 2013, 3PEOPLEMUSIC has been developing new artistic possibilities for traditional Chinese instruments within Taiwan’s current music scene. The ensemble combines traditional playing techniques with new forms of performance and compositional approaches.
The trio works with a broad sonic palette and a repertoire spanning different styles and genres, from improvisation and cross-genre formats to contemporary music and world music. Its performances reflect different approaches to traditional music and instrumental practice.
In recent years, 3PEOPLEMUSIC has performed both in Taiwan and internationally, including at Kunstfest Weimar and the 2024 Cultural Olympiad in Paris, as well as on a tour of Canada in 2025.
Listen on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/3peoplemusic
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Gunnar Geisse, laptop guitar (D)
Photo © Werner Siebert
Gunnar Geisse is a musician, improviser, composer and performer working in the fields of experimental and improvised music, electronics and New Music. He has developed a complex instrumental set-up combining electric guitar, electronic sound generation and digital signal processing, which he refers to as his ‘laptop guitar’.
The significance of his approach is discussed and explored from a theoretical perspective in the book Musik und Wirklichkeit (Schott) by music philosopher Harry Lehmann.
Geisse has worked with almost all of Germany’s leading symphony orchestras, as well as with international improvisers and artists from around the world, including Eivind Aarset, Richard Barrett, Peter Brötzmann, Marc Ducret, Vinko Globokar, Barry Guy, Joëlle Léandre, George Lewis, Phil Minton, David Moss, Olga Neuwirth, Lauren Newton, Phill Niblock, Evan Parker, William Parker, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Elliott Sharp, Markus Stockhausen, Mike Svoboda, Gary Thomas and Wu Wei.
His work as a composer and performer is documented on more than 40 CDs and in 30 radio plays. His recent work includes IRCAM’s presentation of his piece rhythm changes at New York University as part of the IRCAM Forum in New York, electronic transformations of works by Bartók and Debussy with the Munich Philharmonic, and his solo album Triptych, released by NEOS.
The Taiwan Improvisation Project is supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
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Frantz Loriot, viola (F/CH)
Marina Tantanozi, flute, bass flute (GR/CH)
Philipp Eden, piano (CH)
Photo © Dovile Sermokas
Formed in 2021 in Zürich, the trio of Philipp Eden, Frantz Loriot and Marina Tantanozi explores the possibilities of acoustic improvisation with a distinct instrumentation of piano, viola and flutes. Their music is shaped by listening, movement and resonance.
Over the years, through regular rehearsals, the trio has developed a playground for experimentation, characterised by trust, openness and curiosity. Through an ongoing improvisational practice, the three musicians explore the intensity of sound as gesture within a purely acoustic context – a gesture informed by an awareness of space, silence and the physicality of sound.
They have established a non-hierarchical way of playing, in which each voice holds equal weight. The music unfolds in three independent lines that move side by side: each retains its autonomy while remaining deeply attuned to the others. Rather than merging into a single voice, the trio cultivates a fine balance between independence and connection. This allows the music to evolve with quiet unpredictability.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
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Paul Lytton, drums (GB)
Ken Vandermark, tenor saxophone, clarinet (USA)
Nate Wooley, trumpet, electronics (USA)
Photo © Hannes Schneider
Paul Lytton, Nate Wooley and Ken Vandermark have worked together in various constellations for many years. Their first recordings as a trio were made in 2011 and released in 2012 on the double CD The Nows. Vandermark and Wooley have also worked as a duo since 2013 and have recorded several albums together.
From 2022 onwards, the trio became more firmly established through tours and festival appearances in the USA and Europe. Further concerts followed in 2023 and 2024. In connection with the 2024 European tour, the trio made new acoustic and electroacoustic recordings. In 2026, the three musicians are once again performing in Europe.
At the centre of their work is freely improvised music that takes shape in the moment, bringing together three distinct musical voices. Paul Lytton’s drumming largely moves beyond a traditional rhythmic function, working instead with timbre, resonance and texture. Ken Vandermark’s saxophones and clarinets introduce lines, fields of sound and abrupt changes of direction, while Nate Wooley explores the trumpet far beyond its conventional tone. The result ranges from dense passages to open spaces – music whose structure emerges through interaction.
Paul Lytton (*1947 in London, UK) is a British drummer, percussionist and improviser. Since the late 1960s, he has been one of the defining figures of the European free improvisation scene. He first became widely known through his duo, and later trio, with saxophonist Evan Parker; he was also a founding member of the London Musicians’ Cooperative and performed with the London Jazz Composers’ Orchestra. As an instrument builder and an early user of live electronics, he developed a highly individual and expanded approach to drums and percussion. Since the 1970s, he has worked in numerous international ensembles, including with Paul Lovens, Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark and Nate Wooley.
Ken Vandermark (*1964 in Rhode Island, USA) is an internationally established saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and improviser. Since the early 1990s, he has worked from Chicago and has become one of the defining voices of the international improvisation and avant-garde scene. Across numerous projects, he combines free improvisation with composed structures. Alongside his artistic work, he is active as a curator, writer and organiser. He is co-founder and director of the musicians’ cooperative Catalytic Sound and releases his own projects through his label Audiographic Records. In 1999, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his musical work.
Nate Wooley (*1974 in Oregon, USA) is a renowned trumpeter, composer and improviser. Since the early 2000s, he has been one of the defining voices of the international creative music and avant-garde scene. In his solo work and ensemble projects, he expands the sonic and technical possibilities of the trumpet, moving between improvisation, experimental music and contemporary composition. Alongside his artistic work, he is active as a curator and writer and is committed to the development and communication of new forms of contemporary music. Since May 2026, he has been Artistic Director of the New York label Pyroclastic Records.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.Uhr.
It's almost a small festival taking place here at the MUG: Three renowned Berlin improvisers will be performing in (at least!) two duos and, for the first time, as a trio, which also explains the somewhat unusual arithmetic of the title. So we can look forward to a varied evening!
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Andreas Willers, guitar (D)
Matthias Bauer, bass (D)
Matthias Müller, trombone (D)
Photo on the left © Matthias Bauer
Photo on the right © Sergei Gavrylov
Duo 1:
Andreas Willers, acoustic guitar and Matthias Bauer, double bass
In the duo Willers–Bauer, two experienced voices in improvised music unite to create a unique sound. They intertwine their creative energies and vocabulary through intuitive, ever-changing interaction, crafting a sonic world full of unorthodox, purely acoustic sounds that coalesce into multifaceted textures, opening up a vibrant, constantly evolving sonic cosmos for the listener.
Both have worked with numerous renowned local and international artists in the fields of contemporary jazz, improvised music and New Music since the 1980s and have a long list of releases and festival performances.
Duo 2:
Andreas Willers, electric guitar and Matthias Müller, trombone
Matthias Müller and Andreas Willers know each other from working together on various projects in Berlin's improv and jazz scene. The improvising duo of trombonist and guitarist is characterised by the well-considered construction of selected textures, coupled with intuitive yet always variable interaction.
What unfolds is a wonderful and skilful blend of timbres, tones, actions, interactions and reactions, noises and electronic guitar effects, all multiplying without ever creating a sense of repetition, regression or the use of tricks and gimmicks. The constant renewal of approaches to playing, sound combinations and inventive playing ideas emerges with remarkable naturalness.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
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Isabelle Duthoit, voice, clarinet (F)
Yuko Oshima, drums (J/F)
Soizic Lebrat, cello (F)
Photo © Hannes Schneider
Trio Rouge, comprising of vocalist and clarinettist Isabelle Duthoit, drummer Yuko Oshima and cellist Soizic Lebrat, works within the tradition of free improvised music. A keen sense of sound and slow, subtle lines of development characterise the finely balanced interplay of these musicians, who complement one another perfectly. At the same time, gentleness and tempestuous energies are not opposites in their music.
As is generally the case in improvisation, the personalities of the players are crucial to this trio: they each cultivate an individual form of expression while also possessing the ability to engage sensitively with the characteristics and impulses of the others. Their playing seems to follow a secret, unspoken dramaturgy. Listening to one another and giving the sounds space to breathe are essential — music as an unstandardised ritual, born out of the moment.
Isabelle Duthoit received classical training as a clarinettist. She turned to contemporary music early on, collaborating with various ensembles and composers. Her principal artistic focus is free improvisation. She championed improvised music by co-founding the festival Fruits de Mhère – Les Champs de l'Improvisation with clarinettist and percussionist Jacques Di Donato, and by curating and organising it from 1995 to 2005.
From an early stage, she developed a fascination with the voice. Her unique vocal technique can be described as a language that precedes language itself. In 2008, she was an artist-in-residence at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto, Japan, where she developed a solo vocal performance incorporating the sound worlds of Noh and Bunraku theatre. From 1997 to 2012, she taught clarinet and improvisation at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental in Évry (Essonne).
Yuko Oshima began making music in Japan at the age of 18. She discovered free noise rock and joined the group Gakusei-Jikken-Shitsu, which propelled her into Japan’s avant-garde scene. She works with contemporary Butoh dancers, theatre groups and improvising musicians.
In 2000, she moved to France to study improvisation and contemporary music at the École des Percussions de Strasbourg and the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. Since then, she has worked with musicians from the jazz and improvisation scenes. She composes and performs music for the stage, film and theatre.
After training as a classical musician (winning first prize at the conservatoire) and as a music historian (earning a doctorate from the university), Soizic Lebrat expanded her artistic practice to include improvisation and composition. She has also conceived and developed spaces for musical research and projects, such as Ope1000, La Fabrique de musique, Cellule de bass and Continuum, as well as performative installations, including Amours d'enfance, Double Frictional Wheel and olos uelB / Bleu solo. She performs as a soloist (Bleu solo) and is involved in a wide range of musical and transdisciplinary collaborations.
Location: MUG – Munich Underground at Einstein Kultur
Entrance fee: 20 Euro, members of Offene Ohren e.V. 15 Euro, free admission up to 21 years (inclusive)
The box office opens at approximately 7:30 p.m.
The friends of improvised music of the Offene Ohren e.V. would like to thank the Kulturreferat München for its continuous help allowing to present improvised music in Munich.