Honest and Beautiful Song: AndrÉ de Ridder on THE MUSIC OF Lou Barlow
“Orchestral support can often feel self-indulgent and egotistical with the orchestra only there to serve the band. But here it feels entirely equal; two like-minded musical entities fluidly playing and communicating with each other.” –Huffington Post on the work and philosophy of s t a r g a z e
Celebrated conductor and founding member of the Berlin-based chamber ensemble s t a r g a z e, André de Ridder discusses the upcoming collaboration with Twin Cities synthpop band Poliça and finding inspiration in Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh), drawing connections to lo-fi, drone and Schubert song cycles.
Check out the world premiere of the s t a r g a z e and Poliça collaboration Music for the Long Emergency as part of the 2016.17 Liquid Music Series on Friday, Nov. 18, co-presented with The Current. Find tickets here.
PLAYLIST:
1. Max Richter: Movements 1-3 of Spring from The Four Seasons Recomposed – Berlin Konzerthaus Chamber Orchestra/de Ridder
2. Greg Saunier: O’Malley, Former Underdog from Deerhoof Chamber Variations (EP) – s t a r g a z e
3. Greg Saunier: Data from Deerhoof Chamber Variations
4. Lou Barlow: Lose from You’re Living All Over Me – Dinosaur Jr.
5. Lou Barlow: Poledo from You’re Living All Over Me – Dinosaur Jr.
6. Lou Barlow: Moving from Brace the Wave – Lou Barlow
André de Ridder embodies an unusual position among today’s conductors, producing records in Africa; curating innovative concert series in Melbourne, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Helsinki (where he is the artistic director of Musica nova Helsinki); and commissioning genre-defying projects with his s t a r g a z e collective. He has formed close artistic relationships with Kaija Saariaho, Uri Caine, Bryce Dessner, Michel van der Aa and Damon Albarn, as well as bands including Mouse on Mars, and he performs regularly at international festivals including the BBC Proms, Holland Festival and Sydney Festival. Previous world premieres he has led include Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and Michel van der Aa’s The Sunken Garden, both for English National Opera. In 2013 de Ridder founded s t a r g a z e, a think-tank of like-minded European musicians: operating from Berlin, they found a home at the Volksbühne theater and were awarded a grant to put on their own three-day festival, s t a r g a z e presents, with artists including Terry Riley, Tyondai Braxton, Nils Frahm, Pantha du Prince and Pekka Kuusisto. They presented a project with Julia Holter last season, and upcoming appearances include Ruhrtriennale with Owen Pallett, Sacrum Profanum Festival in Krakow with These New Puritans, and the Volksbühne-Am-Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, where they unveil s t a r g a z e orchestral in December 2015. Mr. de Ridder’s discography includes Max Richter’s The Four Seasons Recomposed (DG, ECHO Klassik 2013 Classic Without Borders award) and an album of orchestral music by Bryce Dessner and Jonny Greenwood (DG). In November 2014 he produced Africa Express Presents: In C Mali (Transgressive Records) after a trip to Bamako, Mali, with Damon Albarn and his Africa Express project, during which André de Ridder initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians with western artists including Brian Eno and Albarn. He was educated in Berlin and subsequently studied at the music academies of Vienna and London under Leopold Hager and Colin Davis.
You can buy the s t a r g a z e Deerhoof Chamber Variations EP here