Annie Gosfield – Portrait

Annie Gosfield, born in 1960, studied piano and composition in Los Angeles and was already exposed to blues, jazz, soul as well as to alternative rock music and unusual early sound art experiments during her childhood. She has appeared as a keyboarder with various musicians and in various formations, sometimes also writing her own pieces. Her fascination for extramusical and everyday sounds, machine noises, sounds emitted from technological equipment and physical phenomena could be heard in her compositions. She used old as well as new technologies and experimental procedures, such as musique concrète, prepared instruments and sampling. Moreover, pulsating rhythms and ostinato patterns became a trademark of her music.
The MaerzMusik concert shows the numerous different facets of this noise and urban sounds inspired music. Each of the performed pieces resulted in close cooperation with the instrumentalists. Their interpretations and playing techniques often make a significant contribution to the character of the pieces.