"It is with immense joy and excitement that I will be joining the wonderful musicians of Trio Catch. Ever since our very first rehearsal, I have appreciated their superb qualities as skilled chamber musicians and have felt right at home playing with them.

Over the past decade, the trio has repeatedly demonstrated that they are not only masters of many contemporary works, but are also at home in the classical repertoire. Trio Catch has an excellent reputation and I'm really looking forward to future tours and projects. I am excited and curious about new collaborations with composers in order to continue developing the repertoire for this instrumentation in the coming years.”

To catch the audience: with a virtuosic dialogue between the very different timbres of the clarinet, cello, and piano; through the joy of making music together; through searching tirelessly for a shared sound. This is what makes Trio Catch stand out.

The trio got its name from “Catch” op. 4 by Thomas Adès, in which the clarinet is “caught” by a piano trio that plays a charming children’s round. Alongside performing classical music, the interpretation of contemporary music is one of the main focuses of the three young musicians.

The Hamburg-based trio have worked with numerous composers throughout the twelve years of their collaboration, including Mark Andre, Georges Aperghis, Beat Furrer and Helmut Lachenmann, with whom they are also connected through various CD productions and radio recording projects. Trio Catch’s debut CD “in between” was released in 2014 on the col legno label, followed by the release of their second CD “Sanh” in 2016. Their new disc „As if“, released on Bastille Musique, was awarded the German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik).

It has always been my dream to work on Harlekin by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Ever since I discovered the piece during my studies, I’ve been fascinated by the choreographic element of this composition and how well it goes hand in hand with the musical part. After all, almost everything is meticulously notated directly in the score by the composer.

In March 2021, I embarked upon a wonderful journey of discovering this œuvre in detail, studying it and learning it by heart. In this process, I was aided by a wonderful dancer and choreographer, Anna Chirescu, who helped me greatly with my movements, mime and provided an insight into the piece through dancer’s eyes.

Our work culminated in a performance at the Cité de la Musique in Paris on November 13, 2021. For me this was a completely new experience. As a musician I am used to get on stage - sit down - play my music and leave. Having the entire hall for myself for 45 minutes straight and “acting“ was something quite different. However, I must say that it was a wonderful night and I loved every moment of it and can’t wait to do it all again!

As the Covid-19 lockdowns hit Europe in March of 2020, I found myself suddenly without purpose and struggling to find motivation to practise and continue working on my projects.

I soon realised that I needed to create some smaller goals for myself, if I didn’t want to lose my mind and the love for my craft. Therefore, I decided to record something just for myself - despite having no previous experience and without much hope for the quality of the final result (but that wasn’t important, after all).

One day I found a very cool and energetic piece by Bruno Mantovani entitled MÉTAL, for 2 clarinets. I thought it might be just the challenge I needed to get moving and playing again. I had to learn how to record and edit my recordings, something which I had no idea how to properly do. The added difficulty was to play in sync with a prerecorded track, especially in complex rhythms. In the end, the result wasn’t so bad.

After Mantovani, I wanted to arrange something… and something slower this time ;)

I opted for a gorgeous movement from Berio’s Folk songs - Loosin’ Yelav. I wanted to use as many clarinets as possible to create a rich sound. I was still in my beginnings and experimenting with setup, audio software etc., but it was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed every moment spent with this musical gem.

Getting more and more comfortable with recording and editing, I felt like taking things to the next level with a piece I always wanted to record, but never had the opportunity or time to actually do - a perfect use of a lockdown, right?

Steve Reich - New York Counterpoint, my nemesis. As soon as I put more than 3 or 4 voices together in my DAW things started to fall apart… I had to really bring my A-game rhythm feeling and be as precise as possible. The music pushes you to “swing“ and relax, but I found that if I let myself go too much, it simply didn’t work.

I only wish I had a better mic than a Zoom H6 (which is already great for the price, but…) to make a better quality recording, considering how much time I spent on this piece. Maybe I’ll record it again one day.

And last but not least - a clarinet quartet. For this piece I had new mics (yayyy!) - Neumann KM184 - as you’ll be able to hear in the clarity and quality of sound. Thank you Dai Fujikura for this wonderful piece Clari4nics. Employing very beautiful multiphonic sounds for two B-flat and 2 Bass clarinets, it takes you on a trip to a different dimension. I also decided to do edit the video a little differently this time.

It felt like a nice moment to end my series, considering that lockdowns started to ease down and I went back to work and therefore needed to concentrate on other projects - like recording my CD which is coming out very soon!!!

Thank you for reading and listening. I hope you enjoyed my Quarantine Studio recordings! You can find all the videos in a handy playlist by clicking on the button below.

Stay safe and healthy!

Alma Mahler Kammerorchester is a chamber orchestra founded on the beliefs of friendship, diversity and a never-ending curiosity.Its musicians are young professionals from all over Europe including Austria, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Some of them already hold positions in prestigious European orchestras.

Enriching their experience as orchestral musicians, the members of the Alma Mahler Kammerorchester aim to create an international ensemble that can shift seamlessly from a chamber group into a chamber orchestra.

The artistic vision of the Alma Mahler Kammerorchester lies in the eagerness to deconstruct and rediscover the great symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the wish to perform original chamber and orchestral works freed from any style or period.