live concert review
Thanks to Schiko for the photographs he took at the soundcheck and the concert of KMRU and Martina Bertoni & Stefan Schneider Monti at Velvet, 18.04.26.
Nightlife, concerts or performances, for Schiko, have always been linked to its potential for creating utopian communities, a space for experimenting with alternative ways of creating, listening, and being together.
@fotoschiko@m__bertoni@_kamaru_@velvet__collective
music for a stage play
VERGELTUNG
Ein Live Hörspiel mit sechs Bildern von Sebastian Baumgarten
SCHAUSPIELHAUS Köln, Depot 1
TODAY ! 24.4. Premiere, 19.30h
Very excited to announce the premiere of Vergeltung, a live audio play, which i did the soundtrack for.
„It all begins at a height of 12,000 feet: a stream of US bombers half a mile wide and eighteen miles long approaches a German city. Below it shortly afterwards there are falling bombs, the parachutes of a bomber crew, low-flying aircrafts and towers with anti-aircraft guns. At the very bottom are houses and streets in which floundering human beings are “barbecued” in boiling tarmac. Air raid shelters, cellars, chaos, scenes of inconceivable horror. Gert Ledig’s novel VERGELTUNG (“Payback”) takes a cold and unsentimental look at the destructive power of an allied air raid in July 1944. The city that is described here remains nameless – but it could be Cologne. After the night of 30 to 31 May 1942, the Cathedral was the only building left standing in a vast landscape of ruins. The book was published in 1956 and was soon forgotten. Director Sebastian Baumgarten stages Ledig’s challenge to war-mongering phrases about “fatherland, heroism, tradition, faith and honour” as a world premiere for Schauspiel Köln.
Regie SEBASTIAN BAUMGARTEN
Bühne JOEP VAN LIESHOUT and CHRISTIAN MAYER
Kostüm TABEA BRAUN
Komposition STEFAN SCHNEIDER
Musik FIETE WACHHOLTZ
Videoart CHRIS KONDEK
With NIKOLAUS BENDA, REBEKKA BIENER, JONAS DUMKE, ELIAS EILINGHOFF, ANDREAS GRÖTZINGER, LEONHARD HUGGER, HASTI MOLAVIAN, UWE SCHMIEDER and SARAH SANDEH, FIETE WACHHOLTZ
https://www.schauspiel.koeln/en/production/vergeltung
Berlin Concert
Katharina Grosse, Farida Amadou, Carina Khorkhordina, Stefan Schneider
Tue. 5th of May
KM 28
Karl Marx Straße 28, 12043 Berlin
doors 19.30 / stage 20.00
Very much looking forward to playing with this unique line-up. We are a battery.
Katharina Grosse and Stefan Schneider first met whilst studying fine arts at Art Academy Düsseldorf in the very early ‘90‘s. Their creative paths deviated, resulting in a consistent series of live performances, sound installations and also two albums (Tiergarten / 2017 and Permanent Parts / 2024 - both for TAL) which both are celebrating musical experimentation.
For this special performance they are joined by Carina Khorkhordina on trumpet and Farida Amadou on bass guitar, to pursue a curious sense of development, where several elements are allowed to exist alongside each other, not in direct contact but in a mode that’s somewhere between carefree layering and unconscious juxtaposition.
Katharina Grosse - analogue synthesizer
Stefan Schneider - digital synthesizer
Farida Amadou - bass guitar
Carina Khorkhordina - trumpet
Fotos: Frank Kleinbach
@___fariiiiiiiida@carinakhorkhordina@katharina_grosse@km28berlin
live concert
KMRU
Martina Bertoni & Stefan Schneider Monti
Sat.18.4.2026
Velvet
Düsseldorf, Stresemannstrasse 8
Doors 20.00 Music: 21.00
Very much looking forward to sharing the stage with the fantastic KMRU.
The concert at Velvet is also the Düsseldorf debut for the new duo of Martina and myself.
For Joseph Kamaru (KMRU) a Nairobi-born Berlin-based sound artist, sound is a sensorial medium through which social, material and conceptual interpretations are manifested and contested in his works. KMRU carries with him a repository of listening experiences from Nairobi and beyond expanding his sonic practices and bringing an awareness of surroundings through creative compositions, installations and performances.
Martina Bertoni is a Berlin based composer and experimental cellist whose work is focused on embodied sound practices and post-instrumental identities. Her most recent solo album „Electroacoustic works for Halldorophone“ was released earlier this year on Karlrecords.
Photos: Marco Krüger and Jana Irmert
@velvet__collective@m__bertoni@janairmert@_kamaru_
Robert Lax - Living in the Present / TAL39
Album listening session at Yoda with Miki Yui and Stefan Schneider.
Words and music by Robert Lax, Nicolas Humbert, Carina Khorkhordina and Miki Yui.
Saturday, March 21st 2026
Open 19:30
Start 20:00
Yoda
Stresemannstraße 28, 40210 Düsseldorf
Recording session
New reeds for the bass clarinet. Recordings with Susanna Gartmayer for her forthcoming solo album on TAL at the wonderful Stammhaus Church in the very north of Düsseldorf. Many thanks to the helpful staff at the church.
@susannagartmayer
tonight
Rosi (KOIR) and i are playing some records tonight at the exceptionally great Raum Für Musik at Velvet. On from 8pm. See you later on at Velvet, Stresemannstrasse 8.
Flyer by Florentin Ewest. Thanks !!!
@rosi96.de@velvet__collective@k.o.i.r
new reviews
TAL39
MUSIC FROM THE CAUCASUS - The Archive of Ored Recordings 2013-23
Compilation - LP/CD/Digital - out since January, 30th
Thoroughly comprehensive and insightful article on the work of caucasian label ORED Recordings written by Jakub Knera for The Guardian and also for the current edition of Der Freitag, German weekly newspaper. Thanks a lot.
Jakub Knera is a freelance writer for The Guardian.
@oredrecordings
live concert
SO SNER
Susanna Gartmayer - bass clarinet
Stefan Schneider - analogue frequencies
Wed. 4.2.2026 MÜNCHEN Favoritbar
Doors: 20h / Concert: 20.30 h
See you later on tonight at this great venue in Munich.
Many thanks to all the people who came to see us
last night in Nürnberg.
Photo: Liane at Soft Spot Nürnberg
concerts
SO SNER
Susanna Gartmayer - bass clarinet
Stefan Schneider - hardware synthesizer
Tue. 3.2.2026 NÜRNBERG, Soft Spot (plus Red On)
Wed.4.2.2026 MÜNCHEN, Favorit Bar
Very much looking forward to seeing you at these two superb venues.
Excerpt from a review of our album The Well by Xenia Benivolski for The Wire mag.
„Each track on The Well develops its own sonic lexicon - whether it’s the subtle shifts in „Meteor“ where near-vocal tones brush against the clarinet, or the interplay of small percussive gestures that punctuate the album. This meticulous layering fosters a sense of immersion, as if navigating through a dense, intricately mapped sonic landscape.
The album’s ability to remain both complex and accessible speaks to Gartmayer and Schneider’s shared commitment to exploring the boundaries of their instruments without losing sight of the listener’s experience.“
Photos: Markus Luigs
@xeniab.vlsk@markusluigs
.