Hans de Back

Festival Transverbal

A gong resounds on the groundfloor of a spa. Through the mezzanine situated at the spa’s glass façade, its sound waves travel to the basement, where a voice answers the gong. A multi-level dialogue begins, in more than one sense of the word. Instruments and voices, audience and performers mingle in a unique sound-space-event that tests the limits of music, mind & body.

Festival Transverbal is dedicated to the memory and legacy of the German multi-medial artist Michael Vetter, who passed away, aged 70, on December 7, 2013. It bridges an ongoing search for sound’s soothing inner secrets with its more expressive post-modern/avant-garde forms.

Expect voices, singing bowls, sheng (mouth organ), a gong, performers moving through the space, an immersive 60-minute sonic surrounding. Talk to or play with the musicians afterwards!

Through this Festival we keep alive the spirit and works of Michael Vetter, who inspired many musicians, artists, and other individuals along his extremely versatile and moving career in Europe and Asia. Michael Vetter had an incredible output of art works (starting at age 5); compositions, LPs/CDs; tours and performances; and educational methods for (experimental) flute, voice and instruments, among many other things. His musical career spanned the period from his late school years (early 1960s) until the months before his death (september 2013), when he worked on pieces by Karlheinz Stockhausen that many musicians have played and performed piecemeal, while none really gave them a try in their entirety. Thus, shortly after his death, Natascha Nikeprelevic, Vetter’s foremost successor, and Stockhausen Verlag worked on the publication of Expo, one of Stockhausen’s scores with pluses and minuses (+ -) as guiding points. Vetter recorded it with Nikeprelevic and FX Randomiz 8 weeks before he passed away. (The CD appeared in May of this year, listen here).

Expo cover

Michael Vetter’s visit to Taiwan, together with Natascha Nikprelevic, left a great impression on those who had the chance to see/hear them or work with them, during their residency at the Taipei National University of Arts, where Chung Minder from the Theatre Department invited them.

Michael Vetter always straddled the paths outside clear-cut styles, usually combining elements from here and there, and most of all relying on his own experimental genius to create fresh insights and sounds at every moment. His long-time affiliation with zen in Japan and outspoken zen themes in the 1980s aliened him from some of his former avant-garde colleagues, who shied away from (or were not interested in) anything to do with Eastern “spirituality”. However, looking back on his life in its entirety, it is clear that Vetter was dedicated to creative imagination and disciplined, daily musical and artistic rituals, above anything else. For Vetter, the world itself was constantly exploding with creation, unfolding, coming-into-existence, into a myriad forms, colours, sounds. He observed this world with intelligence, humor, commitment and compassion. His love and dedication to the arts and existence (‘Dasein’) as a whole was the starting point for his creative response to them. Or rather, it seemed he was able to let creative forces take their course through him, as a critical, subtle moderator.

Michael Vetter making Indian ink drawings, Academia Caparaia, Italy, 2009

Michael Vetter making Indian ink drawings, Academia Caparaia, Italy, 2009

It is in this spirit of capturing the uniqueness of every meeting (between performers, with a certain space and with a certain audience, at a given time) that we want to inaugurate a Festival which we hope to repeat in following years.

We prepared this Transverbal Festival in collaboration with Canjune Spa and Nicole’s Creative agency. It will be held on Sunday, November 16 at Canjune Spa. There are two identical concerts, you can join us either in the afternoon (3 PM) or in the evening (7 PM). The participants are Hans de Back, Lu Chi-Chung and Lee Wei-Lin, Li Li-Chin and Mark van Tongeren, and probably a few more musical assistants.

For more information and tickets, please follow this link to accupass.

Limited number of tickets!

Please also note that there will be a limited number of seats in the space, and limited storage space for your bags. Do not bring your own food/drinks.

We believe this concert will be less suitable for young children.

6/20: Concert with Hans de Back

My Dutch colleague, the singing-bowl maestro Hans de Back is about to return to Taiwan.  On June 20  there will be another evening of Harmonic-Guttural-Metal Music at Hansuna’s place.

請在此處搜尋中文資訊

Hans de Back will be playing his singing bowls, gong, Thai temple bells and a wide range of other metal/bronze instruments. I will busy myself with glossolalia, incantations in incomprehensible languages, overtone singing, play my new 12-tone sruti box and even some metally things: Jew’s harps from the Yakut people in Sakha (Siberia) and from the Hmong in Vietnam’s northern highlands.

This mesmerising blend of instrumental and vocal sounds can be enjoyed in the intimate atmoshphere of Hans and Una’s living room in the ShiDa area. Afterwards there will be a chance to try some things out for yourself under our guidance and ask questions.

Date and time: Friday, June 20, 2014, from 19:30 till 21.

Damage: 600 NT$.

You can reserve a seat by writing an email to Miss Una Kao: unakao@yahoo.com.tw
Also take note that this summer Hans will offer a new course where you learn to play singing bowls, including a 2-hour personal sound massage from Hans. Something I can highly recommend to anyone!

Hans is Back! Showtime!

Concert announcement. For English: see below.

2013年8月12日星期一

聲音的饗宴: 客廳音樂會 = 8/23(五) 晚上7:30~9:00

真不知道 {人} 也可以發出這樣的聲音!
我們不是天神,不是龍,不是風,不是山谷,
卻可以在這個小小的體內 招喚出各種形式與力量的聲音.
這聲音, 不是歌唱或是模擬任何對象
而是世界在你生命中的印記與展現
馬克說: 身體就是樂器呀!
我想他體內一定藏了一個宇宙方舟,頑童
還有看得見與看不見的 所有存在

音樂大師: 泛唱 Mark 與 頌缽 Hans
日期: 2013年8/23(五) !new!
時間: 晚上7:30-9:00 (1.5hr)
費用: NT$600(每位)
名額: 15位

活動內容:
1) 1hr聲音的景緻: 人聲泛音, 頌缽
2) 0.5hr玩聲音: 泛唱練習, 現場敲缽體驗

附註: 本活動須事先報名 + 完成繳費
銀行: 第一銀行 古亭分行 (代號: 007)
帳號: 171-68-063496 (姓名:高立言)
email報名: unakao@yahoo.com.tw
伙伴請攜帶輕薄披肩或襪子. 現場備有茶點輕食

(尋)…粗聲暫發; (伺)…細聲隨行
辯證到到 “無尋無伺”, 是佛經中關於心的定靜慮的境界
這是佛光大學 生命與宗教學系 林香君教授
Hans的 ≪頌缽音樂會≫所下的標題!

Mark說:{聲音}的可能性就像汪洋的大海。
我們可以藉由各種不同的方式來發現或到達其中遍布的島嶼。
或許游泳,或許划舟。泛音詠唱的玄妙音色也只是大海中的一個島嶼。
我將教予你們的詠唱方法,也只是到達這些島嶼的其中一條可能路徑
──你得發現屬於自己的航道。
MarkHans 親自帶領. 大師合作, 精彩可期!

Hans de Back, world-renowned percussionist/singing bowl/gong player from Holland, has returned to Taiwan once again. Hans and Mark will share the intimate ‘stage’ of HansUna’s singing bowl paradise for another evening of bowls, bells, gong, sruti’s, Jew’s harps and overtone singing.

Date and time

Friday, August 23, 2013, from 19:30 till 21.
One hour of live music, plus 30 minutes of Q&A,
with some exercises to try some of our sounds for yourselves.
Damage: 600 NT$.

You can reserve a seat by writing an email to Una Kao:

unakao@yahoo.com.tw

and do bring some friends if you like!

If you cannot make it, keep an eye on our blogs/Facebook. We’ll have one or two more houseconcerts in ShiDa: in October (maybe) and in November (29).

HansUna’s blog
Mark’s Facebook
Hans’ Facebook

Duet at Hans de Back’s Taipei residence

…as anounced on http://hansuna.blogspot.com/ :

2012年2月14日星期二

玩聲音 = 2/22(三) 晚上7:30的客廳音樂會

* 尋伺寂靜之夜 *
音樂大師: 泛唱 Mark 與 頌缽 Hans

日期: 2012年2/22(三) !new!
時間: 晚上7:30-9:30 (2hr)
費用: NT$600(每位)
名額: 15位

活動內容:

  1. 1hr聲音的景緻: 人聲泛音, 頌缽, 緬甸磬, HAPI, 丁夏演出
  2. 1hr玩聲音: 泛唱練習, 現場敲缽體驗

附註: 本活動須事先報名&完成繳費
銀行: 第一銀行 古亭分行 (代號: 007)
帳號: 171-68-063496
姓名: 高立言
聯絡方式: unakao@yahoo.com.tw
伙伴請攜帶保暖衣物 現場備有茶點輕食(尋)…粗聲暫發; (伺)…細聲隨行

辯證到到 “無尋無伺”, 是佛經中關於心的定靜慮的境界
這是2011年中秋過後, 佛光大學 生命與宗教學系 林香君教授
給Hans的 ≪頌缽音樂會≫所下的標題!

(泛音)可以引發不同的知覺模式,把我們帶到另一層的覺知,
使得一般狀態下無法感受到的強烈感動、靈視和情感湧現出來。
這些強烈的經驗不會自動發生,也不是每個接觸泛音的人都能體驗到。
他們會突然地來臨,讓我們瞥見「另一種真實」。

Mark van Tongeren 親自帶領.
首次合作, 精彩可期!