A conversation between
Diamanda La BERGE DRAMM
& Anne La BERGE
IN WHICH a musician talks to her mother;
IN WHICH a musician talks to her daughter...
On April 11th, Utrecht, musicians Diamanda La Berge Dramm and Anne La Berge sat together to chew through their terms of work, creativity and audience to compare and contrast their relationships with stage, sound, and self as runs through their practice. See below for their unabridged conversation, and below that for various excerpts from their projects, alone and together...
Excerpts—
‘Muffled,’ Modern Genetics LP (Splendor Records, 2019) —Played by Anne La Berge & Diamanda La Berge Dramm
‘800 Speakers,’ Speak CD (New World Records, 2011)
‘Amazon,’ Beastings edition (Pretty Purgatory, 2019)
‘Writing,’ Beastings edition (Pretty Purgatory, 2019)
‘Lamb,’ Beastings edition (Pretty Purgatory, 2019)
‘Away,’ Speak CD (New World Records, 2011)
Diamanda La Berge DRAMM (1991) grew up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands playing the violin since the age of four. Growing up among the leading figures of the Dutch classical, avant-garde and improvisation scene, her own concerts reflect all of these elements. In 2018 she was the first ever string soloist to win the Dutch Classical Talent Tour & Award. Diamanda studied at New England Conservatory and at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. Recent performances include solo concerts with the Metropole Orchestra, and an Indonesia tour giving workshops and concerts. In 2019 she released Beastings, an EP & book in collaboration with UK poet SJ Fowler. In 2020 she is in residence at Musikfest Bremen as winner of the Deutschlandfunk Förderungspeis. Diamanda is a founding member of Splendor, a collective of 50 artists in Amsterdam who co-run a working space and concert hall. See here: https://diamandadramm.com; instagram: @diamandalbd.
Anne La BERGE’s passion for the extremes in both composed and improvised music has led her to the fringes of storytelling and sound art as her sources of musical inspiration. Her most recent releases are Modern Genetics, a triple LP featuring the family La Berge Dramm and two cassettes with electronic artist Phil Maguire on the verz label. She performs regularly as soloist, with the ensemble MAZE and with her partner David Dramm. She is a founding artist of Splendor Amsterdam, a collective of musicians, who have transformed an old bathhouse in Amsterdam into a cultural mecca, where she regularly produces and shares small scale concerts with international guests. In 1999, together Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler, she founded Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems. Many of its musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes computer samples, the use of spoken text and electronic processing. She works regularly as an improvisation and live electronics coach worldwide in the context of residencies and private coaching. She can be heard on the Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat ArtFrog Peak, EinsteinX-OR, UnsoundsCanal Street, Rambo, esc.rec., Intackt, Data, verzReal Music House, Relative Pitch and Splendor Amsterdam labels which include recordings with Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge, Apricot My Lady, Big Zoom, Corkestra, La Berge/Williamson, MAZE, Phil Macguire and her family. Her music is published by Frog Peak Music, Alry Publications and Donemus; and many of her Max patch based compositions are available as Apps from her privately. She is the Managing Director of the Volsap Foundation that produces innovative music projects.
See http://annelaberge.com/ and http://www.maze.nu/.
IMAGE credits—
© Juri Hienschcredit (left);
© Keke Keukelaar (right)
Anne La BERGE’s passion for the extremes in both composed and improvised music has led her to the fringes of storytelling and sound art as her sources of musical inspiration. Her most recent releases are Modern Genetics, a triple LP featuring the family La Berge Dramm and two cassettes with electronic artist Phil Maguire on the verz label. She performs regularly as soloist, with the ensemble MAZE and with her partner David Dramm. She is a founding artist of Splendor Amsterdam, a collective of musicians, who have transformed an old bathhouse in Amsterdam into a cultural mecca, where she regularly produces and shares small scale concerts with international guests. In 1999, together Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler, she founded Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems. Many of its musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes computer samples, the use of spoken text and electronic processing. She works regularly as an improvisation and live electronics coach worldwide in the context of residencies and private coaching. She can be heard on the Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat ArtFrog Peak, EinsteinX-OR, UnsoundsCanal Street, Rambo, esc.rec., Intackt, Data, verzReal Music House, Relative Pitch and Splendor Amsterdam labels which include recordings with Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge, Apricot My Lady, Big Zoom, Corkestra, La Berge/Williamson, MAZE, Phil Macguire and her family. Her music is published by Frog Peak Music, Alry Publications and Donemus; and many of her Max patch based compositions are available as Apps from her privately. She is the Managing Director of the Volsap Foundation that produces innovative music projects.
See http://annelaberge.com/ and http://www.maze.nu/.
IMAGE credits—
© Juri Hienschcredit (left);
© Keke Keukelaar (right)