Christian Kesten

Christian Kesten is a composer, director, sound and intermedia artist, vocalist and performer.
Kesten is a specialist in vocal experimentation and the performativity of music. He works with an expanded notion of music that integrates elements from performance art, conceptual art and contemporary dance. His artistic interest lies in the "in-between", the transitory, the spaces between music and action. His work focuses on the physical activity of creating the sound and the physicality of the sound itself.
Being a vocalist and performer, Kesten delivered solo performances for voice, body, objects, video and audio/field recordings in Europe, China, Japan, Canada and the US. In addition to instrumental music and choral works, Kesten composed and staged site-specific pieces as well as full-length works. He received commissions by ensembles like Marinate Fish Impro Committee Beijing, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Maulwerker, Konzert Minimal, Rue du Nord Lausanne, Object Collection New York, AuditivVokal Dresden, Chorakademie Dortmund, WeSpoke London/Lausanne.
Kesten’s compositions were presented at festivals like MaerzMusik, MINU_festival for expanded music Copenhagen, Labor Sonor Translating Spaces, MusiMars Montreal, SinusTon Magdeburg, Mikroton Bern, Kunstfest Weimar and many more. He staged directions of new music theatre by Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, John Cage, Tom Johnson, Makiko Nishikaze, Jacques Demierre, Steven Takasugi and others. He is a member of the ensemble Maulwerker and conceives the series maulwerker performing music
Since 2006, he has been co-curator of the Berlin series Labor Sonor for experimental music, film and performance and artistic co-director of the Labor Sonor festivals "Translating Music" (2015), "Moving Music" (2016) and "Choreographing Sound" (2018).