Wednesday May 14 • The Music Gallery, Rough Idea and the Goethe-Institut Toronto present
XU FENGXIA + GUNDA GOTTSCHALK
with guest Rob Clutton, solo
Part of VTO eight

Special location: The Citadel, 304 Parliament St. (south of Dundas)
Doors 7pm, concert 8pm
Tickets: $15 advance; door: $20 regular/$15 member + senior/$10 student
Advance tickets available at www.ticketweb.ca

Set one:
Rob Clutton — double bass

Set two:
Xu Fengxia — guzheng
Gunda Gottschalk — violin, viola

VTO eight, the Toronto outpost of activity affiliated with the 25th annual FIMAV in Victoriaville, Quebec, continues May 14 at a special location: the Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie dance studio located at the Citadel, 304 Parliament (south of Dundas). The German duo of Xu Fengxia and Gunda Gottschalk made up the core trio of late improvising bassist Peter Kowald’s Global Village Ensemble, which brought together musicians from radically different cultural heritages. Kowald’s last Toronto performance was in his musical support of dancer extraordinaire Pina Bausch, and we are honoured to revisit the spirit of dance and music by welcoming his trio to this newest musical venue. Toronto’s own Rob Clutton will commence the evening with a solo double bass performance.

Xu Fengxia (CN/DE)
Guzheng player Xu Fengxi was born in Shanghai in 1963. When she was seven years old she began to study Chinese stringed instruments. She graduated from the famous Shanghai music conservatory, and after 1986 became soloist at the Shanghai orchestra for Chinese music. In 1991 she moved to Germany, and soon became a member of the Gufeng Ensemble, a group of four top Chinese top musicians living in Germany. From 1991 to 1996, she was leader of Shanghai Connection, which worked in various combinations from trio to septet, performing new compositions combining traditional Chinese music with jazz and contemporary sounds. In 1995 Xu began to work with Peter Kowald, the Wuppertal bassist best known for his work with Peter Brötzmann. And since 1997, she has also performed the works of many contemporary Chinese Composers as a soloist.

Xu Fengxia’s guzheng has 21 strings. Their pitch is defined by the position of the bridges. The history of this instrument dates back almost 3000 years. During the Han dynasty (from 206 BC), this instrument became very popular throughout China, having been played by the famous poet Liu Xi. In those days, the strings were very thin and had — compared to now — a quite high pitch. Because it is possible to change the position of the bridges, this instrument can be played in any scale or key — from traditional Chinese pentatonic keys to western minor and major keys or new composed scales in contemporary music. The guzheng usually is plucked but Xu Fengxia also uses violin bows or makes percussive sounds with her hand or various sticks.

Gunda Gottschalk (DE) plays improvised and contemporary music and combines her musical work with other art forms such as dance, theater, film, composition, visual art and literature. She was born in 1969 and lives in Wuppertal, Germany. Since 1991, Gunda Gottschalk has been a member of Partita Radicale, a quintet for new and improvised music. Besides developing original improvisation cycles, Partita Radicale became known to a broader audience through their silent movie programs with live music, music theatre productions and collaborations with composers.
In 1994, the violinist met the bassist Peter Kowald, who during carried out his project "365 Tage am ORT” (365 Days in Place) in Wuppertal. She performed in Peter Kowald's Ort-Ensemble and with important international soloists for improvised music such as Joelle Leandre, Carlos Zingaro, Evan Parker. Together with Xu Fengxia, she was a core member of Peter Kowald’s Global Village Ensemble. Among the many guest artists collaborating with the trio were Jin Hi Kim, Savina Yannatou, Pamela Z, Jeanne Lee, Otomo Yoshihide and Le Quan Ninh. Solo tours in 2002 and 2003 took Gottschalk all over the USA, where she played with William Parker, Susie Ibarra, Assif Tsahar, Oliver Lake and Fred Frith.

Rob Clutton is a composer and double bassist with a solo project as well as group projects, including the Cluttertones, Drumheller, Steve Koven Trio, NOJO, Ryan Driver Quartet, David Buchbinder Ensemble, Sea of Song Trio, Kyle Brenders Trio and Quorum. The solo bass project has included the CD Dubious Pleasures, on the Rat-Drifting label, as well as performances at Quartier Ephemere in Montreal, the Guelph Jazz Festival, the Grand Festival of Autumnal Happiness, Somewhere There and the Tranzac. In 2007, he was a member of an ensemble formed by the Music Gallery to work with visiting composer Arnold Dreyblatt. With fond memories of performing with the Rob Clutton Band in VTO 2000, Rob is thrilled to be invited to play a solo set for VTO eight.

Curator’s note:
The spirit of Peter Kowald has hugely influenced the design of this VTO event. The featured duo of Xu Fengxia and Gunda Gottschalk were equals to Mr. Kowald in the Global Village Trio c. 1999-2001. Their Free Elephant 001 recording included the following personnel: Peter Kowald, double bass; Gunda Gottschalk, violin, viola; Xu Feng Xia, guzheng; Otomo Yoshihide, electronics (tracks 4-6); Jin Hi Kim, komungo, (tracks 10-12); Pamela Z, voice, electronics (tracks 16-18).

Peter extensively collaborated with poets and artists and with the dancers Gerlinde Lambeck, Anne Martin, Tadashi Endo, Patricia Parker, Maria Mitchell, Sally Silvers, Cherly Banks, Arnette de Mille, Sayonara Pereira, and Kazuo Ohno. Specific works included Die klage der kaiserin (1989) with Pina Bausch, and Short Pieces (since 1989) with Jean Sasportes. We aspire to further the global swirlitzer by presenting an acoustic evening in this new citadel of music and dance.

http://www.xufengxia-music.de/
http://www.gunda-gottschalk.de/
http://www.rat-drifting.com/catalogue/rd8.html