Julia Hülsmann Trio & Gerdur Gunnarsdóttir String Quartet

Seven musicians don’t necessarily make up a septet. When Berlin pianist Julia Hülsmann enters the stage with a trio and four strings, she explicitly aims at exposing the different modus operandi of both formations. In former projects, her approach to jazz was always in opposition to the common crossover.

Her recent compositions lean more towards classical music; having Shostakovich’s piano concertos in mind while working on them. Once again, Hülsmann does not simply decide in favour of one or the other musical direction and uses jazz not so much as a structural element but rather as an attitude manifested in improvisation.