Dietmar Bonnen – piano, prepared piano, sticks & stones presents the composition once upon a time in Santorini. A chance encounter leads to this energetic trio, in which sound art meets ancient folk music, field recordings meet high-energy music, and free improvisation meets structured composition. Santorini becomes a projection surface for contradictions: mythology collides with mass tourism, tradition with the present.

Dietmar Bonnen (*1958 in Cologne) studied music and art in Cologne and Düsseldorf. In 1981 he founded the avant-garde rock ensemble Fleisch – an early indication of a career that consistently defies categorization. His acclaimed CD Bonnen spielt (1991) united organs and acoustics from various churches through pop music recording techniques in a single piece for the first time – a procedure that was unprecedented at the time. His oeuvre comprises over 100 releases as well as composition commissions for broadcasting stations, film, television, and theater. Defining his compositional thinking are references such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Jimi Hendrix, Joseph Beuys, and John Cage – a constellation that aptly describes his approach: intellectually sharpened, but never academically closed off.

Line-up:

Dietmar Bonnen (piano, prepared piano, sticks & stones)

Eva Pöpplein (electronics)

Janko Hanushevsky (prepared electric bass, acoustic contrabass guitar)