>>>DRUMMING BREATH

Amelia Cuni: vocals, tanpura

Werner Durand: saxophones, Iranian ney, pan-ney and other self made
wind instruments, digital delays, drones

Marika Falk: zarb, talking drum, darbuka, bendir, daf, cajon etc.

CD on SYNTORAMA NO-CD, S.Sebastian 2000

DRUMMING BREATH creates a stimulating context where different musical worlds confront each other resulting in an unexpected, absorbing presentation. The musicians achieve an organic whole thanks to their their long lasting collaboration, common research and thorough knowledge of the respective traditions. Together they share the urge to explore borderlands while their music opens up new perspectives for ancient vocabularies.
Amelia Cuni´s singing draws from the rich heritage of Dhrupad, the oldest form of North Indian music. She uses raga-s and Indian vocal techniques in a distinct way, integrating her Italian roots and her diverse collaborations with internationally renowned musicians . Her voice is powerful and soothing at the same time, moving and hypnotic, her singing has been praised on the national press of India and Europe.
Werner Durand has conceived self-made wind instruments of various materials, played with different embouchures, circular breathing and digital delays. He has developed his own style and playing techniques which may recall different traditions of world music, although they are the result of many years of personal experimentation. His minimalist approach is suitably interacting with Amelia´s Indian background.
Marika Falk is a specialist of the Iranian percussion called zarb (or tombak) and plays with competence many other percussion instruments from Africa and the Middle East . Her captivating grooves, imaginative accompaniment and refined technique add a rich palette of colors to the music, complementing the meditative, drony moments with the irresistible power of rhythm.

Amelia Cuni started learning Hindustani music in 1978 in New Delhi. She lived in India for more than 10 years studying dhrupad singing from renowned masters like R. Fahimuddin Dagar, Vidur Mallik and D. C. Vedi. She has also learnt kathak dance and drumming. She performs and teaches in Europe and India and her singing is featured on several CDs. She has initiated various international projects of traditional as well as experimental orientation with a.o. Terry Riley ,David Toop and Paul Schütze. She lives presently in Berlin.
Werner Durand studied saxophone, bansuri and Iranian flute in Paris, India and Berlin. He has developed several wind instruments, mostly in Plexiglas and PVC. He
collaborates with numerous European and American exponents of new music (Arnold Dreyblatt, David Behrman, Fatima Miranda, David Moss, Uli Krieger a.o.) and his music appears on several CD productions. He resides in Berlin.
Marika Falk: has completed her musical studies in Munich, where she lives. For more than 15 years she has been involved with the traditional music of Africa and the Middle East and has learnt percussive techniques from several well known masters. She has collaborated with various project relating to Early Music, jazz, theatre, World Music with groups like VOX, SARBAND and NUNU. www.handtrommel.de

The duo concert wit Amelia Cuni and Werner Durand is titled RE/ORIENTATION
Detailed biographies of Werner Durand and Marika Falk (German)

WERNER DURAND

performs his own music for saxophones, iranian ney, and self-made wind instruments since the late seventies.
He studied with Ariel Kalma in Paris, Indian classical music in India and Berlin (with Kamalesh Maitra) and Iranian ney with Ali Reza Asgharia.
He started to build wind instruments out of plexi-glass and PVC in the early 80s, which led to the foundation of THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE in 1990.
His current projects include ASHTAYAMA with Dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni; RE/ORIENTATION with Amelia Cuni and percussionist Marika Falk; the BEATLESS SAX O´DRONES, a sax quartet specialising in just intonation; and the group ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER with Sebastian Hilken (cello and percussion), Hella v. Ploetz (glassharp) and Silvia Ocougne(ac.guitars).

Werner Durand has collaborated with numerous composers/performers including David Behrman, Samm Bennett, Fast Forward, David Moss, Fatima Miranda, Muslimgauze,Henning Christiansen, Dominique Regef as well as with visual/ sound artists Michaela Kölmel, Victor Merteens, Andreas Oldörp and Rolf Julius. He was a member of Arnold Dreyblatt´s Orchestra of Excited Strings from 1990-1997.
In 1989 he received a grant from the city of Berlin for the Cité des Arts, Paris.
He was granted a residency at Podewil (Berlin) for 1999 together with Amelia Cuni.
He has collaborated in the organization of festivals of traditional as well as avantgarde music in Berlin like "Urbane und Aboriginale", "Pipeline" and USArts.
Performing worldwide, he participates in international festival and cultural exchange programs (also through Goethe Insitut).
He has composed music for theater, dance and radio features and is presently engaged in several CD productions and musical projects.

Coming from the minimalist tradition, Werner Durand´s music has evolved into a personal style over the years. Inspired by various kinds of traditional musics and instruments, he started to create his own music and instruments reflecting this. A variety of materials and playing techniques enables him to bring out unusual sounds and with the help of digital delays he can create rich textural and rhythmic pieces, which might recall tribal music from Africa or the Pacific, but at the same time sounding experimental or even (post-)industrial.

selected Discography
Urban Sax (Cobra, 1977)
The Thirteenth Tribe Ping-Pong Anthropology No Man's Land 1993)
Arnold Dreyblatt Animal Magnetism (Tzadik 1995)
Arnold Dreyblatt The Sound of One String (Table of the Elements 1998)
Werner Durand Tulpas -Sampler (Selektion 1997)
Muslimgauze Mort aux Vache ( Staalplaat 1998)
Sampler Staalplaatcocktail (Staalplaat 1998)
David Toop Hot Pants Idol (Barooni 1999)
Amelia Cuni-Werner Durand Ashtayama -Song of Hours (Amiata - 2000)
Cuni-Durand-Marika Falk Drumming Breath (Syntorama NO-CD - 2000)
Werner Durand The Art of Buzzing (x-tract- 2001)
Armchair Traveller The Perfect Record (No Man´s Land 2001)

selected Solo-Performances
- Berlin (Institut Unzeit, Podewil, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse etc)
- New York (Goethe Haus, Roulette)
- Munich (Gasteig)
- Madrid (Parallelo)
- Eindhoven-Holland (Het Apollhuis)
--- San Sebastian - Spain (Festival Int. Nuevas músicas)
--- Dresden ( Leonardi Museum)
--- Dessau ( Bauhaus)
---Salzburg (Toihaus)

with Amelia Cuni
ASHTAYAMA im Podewil, Berlin 1999, im ZKM Karlsruhe 2000 und ICA
London 2001, Tropen Museum Amsterdam 2001, Experimenta 21-Torrelavega
(Spanien)2002, CCBB –Rio de Janeiro 2002, Tanzhaus Düsseldorf 2002,
St.Egidien Kirche Nürnberg 2002, Werkstatt der Kulturen Berlin 2002, De
Ijsbreker Amsterdam 2003, Akademie der Künste Berlin 2003
DOLASILLA - Projekt über Dolomiten-Sagen. Arte Sella-Süd Tirol 2000; Riva del
Garda 2002.
RE/ORIENTATION : Torino, Parma, Bologna, Madrid, Hongkong 2000,
Museumsnacht Dessau 2001, Maastricht 2002
DRUMMING BREATH, Podewil 1999, Werkstatt der Kulturen-Berlin 2001,
Ticino Festival 2001

with Armchair Traveller
Podewil, Prater, Staatsbank, Museumsnacht Berlin 1998-2003
Documenta-halle Kassel 2001 im Rahmen der Ausstellung Flotsam / Jetsam, Bauhaus Dessau
Nacht der Museen, Berlin 2003

as member of The Thirteenth Tribe at:
Berlin (Urbane Aboriginale 1990, Zeiss Planetarium 1991, Music Across America 1992, Besuch aus Moskau 1993, Die Kunst des Schnarrens 1995, Pipeline Festival
- Reunion Island (Festival Live 1991)
- Valladolid (M.I.T. Festival 1992)
- Tour in Russia 1992
- Nancy (Centre Culturel André Malraux, Goethe Institut)
- Cracov (Festival Audio Art 1993, Goethe Institut)
- New York (Experimental Intermedia Foundation, Goethe Institut, German
Composers Series)
- Karlsruhe (ZKM, Multimediale 1993)
- St-Etiènne (7me Festival des Musiques Innovatrices 1994)
- Marseille (GMEM Festival du Musique d'Aujourd'hui, Goethe Institut)
- San Sebastian (Zabalmusik 1994)
- Oslo (Prosjekt i Gamblebyen 1994)
--- Tour in Holland1995
--- " in Italy 1998

as member of Orchestra of Excited Strings at:
- Berlin (Festival Inventionen 91, Podewil)
- Vienna (Wiener Festwochen 91)
- New York (Bang on a Can Festival 91)
- Tour in Russia 1992 (Moscow, Smolensk)
- Tour in Poland1994 (Cracov, Warszaw)
- Prague (Berlin-Prag Festival 1994)
--- Budapest ( " - Budapest " 1995)
--- Copenhagen ( Capitale culturale d`Europa 1996)
--- Istanbul ( Berlin-Istanbul 1997)

with Victor Meertens
Performances in Drewen, Schloss Wiepersdorf, Kunstverein Hannover
Kunstakademie Bergen/Norwegen

with Andreas Oldörp
Ruine der Künste, Berlin, Klangkunst in der Parochialkirche , Berlin; St. Petrikirche, Lübeck