Anne La Berge
| Anne La Berge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1955 (age 59–60) Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Occupation | Composer, flautist, improviser |
| Era | Contemporary |
Anne La Berge (born Palo Alto, California, in 1955) is a flautist, composer and improviser, currently resident in Amsterdam. Her performances bring together a virtuosic command of her instrument, a penchant for improvising microtonal textures and melodies, and an array of percussive flute effects, all combined with electronic processing. These have distinguished her as “a pioneer in a wide array of new techniques”.[1] Many of her compositions involve her own participation, though she has produced works intended solely for other performers, usually involving guided improvisation. She is known for her use of enigmatic texts that form part of her compositions and improvisations.[2] In addition to creating her own work, she regularly performs in other artists’ projects in a range of settings from modern chamber music to improvised electronic music.
While pursuing PhD research at the University of California, San Diego in the mid-1980s she formed a duo with flutist John Fonville, commissioning new works and exploring extended techniques on flute, particularly with regard to microtonal scales. She moved to Amsterdam in 1989, where she has lived ever since.
In 1999, together Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler, she founded Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems.[3] Many of the musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes computer samples, the use of spoken text and electronic processing.
In 2006 - 2007 she collaborated with Dr. David LaBerge. This is a performance work based on Dr. La Berge's apical dendrite theory using film, narrative voice samples and music.
She can be heard on the New World Records, Z6 Records, Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat Art, Frog Peak, Einstein, X-OR, Unsounds, Canal Street, Rambo, esc.rec. and Data labels which include recordings as a soloist and with Lukas Simonis, Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge duo, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge duo, Apricot My Lady and the Corkestra.
Anne La Berge has regularly received funding from the Dutch Funds for Composers, the Funds for the Podium Arts and the Amsterdam Funds for the Arts. She is the co-director, with her husband David Dramm, of the Volsap Foundation.
Discography (as composer)
- "SPEAK" New World Records 2011. Works featuring Cor Fuhler, Stephie Buttrich, Misha Myers, Josh Geffin, Amy Walker, Patrick Ozzard-Low and Anne La Berge.
- "Rust Fungus" Z6 Records 2010. With Lukas Simonis
- Newly Refurbished and Tussock Moth esc.rec., 2009. songs by Apricot My Lady including Adam and Jonathan Bohman and Lukas Simonis.
- rasp/hasp Ramboy #19, 2004. Improvisations with Jody Gilbert, Wilbert de Joode, Richard Barrett, Paul Lovens
- VerQuer Upala Records, 2004. Includes rough diamond.
- Radio WORM WORMrec, 2004.
- Kraakgeluiden, 2003. unsounds 06.
- Flute Moments with Theresa Beaman 1998. Laurel Records 857. Includes revamper.
- United Noise Toys live in Utrecht '98. X-OR, 1998. With Gert-Jan Prins. Features duct; yolk; nape; lurk; flap; juke; moat; pike; turf.
- Blow. Frog Peak Music, 1994. Features never again; rollin'; [sic]sauce; indeed; unengraced; revamper.
Sources
Further reading
- Gilmore, Bob. Interview with Anne La Berge. Paris Transatlantic Magazine, November 2005.
- Metzelaar, Helen. Women and 'Kraakgeluiden': the participation of women improvisers in the Dutch electronic music scene (2004) in Organised Sound, 2004, vol. 9, no. 2: 199-206.