Artists and programme
Tanzhausgeiger (Austria)
Performances
“The Tanzhausgeiger play ‘dirty’ traditional dance music. These five full-‐blooded musicians had already known each other for a long time when they formed the Tanzhausgeiger about four years ago. After many appearances in Austria, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland, they released the well-‐received debut album Tanzhausgeiger (Non Food Records) in 2016. The album comprises a cross-‐section of the band’s repertoire: Ländler, czardas, Schleunige, Invartita, Hajnali, yodel, waltz, and polka. A large number of the pieces – and their pulse and drive – have been learned directly from the great dance music masters of Transylvania, Poland, and Austria. Hand-‐written manuscripts from musicians of the 18th and 19th centuries, unearthed in archives and libraries, constitute another source. The band, often on the road, continually strives to expand and refine its repertoire, always searching for originality, depth, and archaic beauty in Europe’s traditional dance music.
Tour highlights: Konzerthaus Wien, Wiener Kathreintanz, Stanser Musiktage (Switzerland), Korröfestivalen (Sweden)
In March 2017, the Tanzhausgeiger won the renowned Fraunhofer-‐Volksmusikpreis (Germany). ”
“ […] The emphasis of the dance-‐music character is also a specialty of the group. The playing is deliberately messy and ‘dirty’; some waltzes feel both straight and indecent. Indeed, the Tanzhausgeiger play stage shows, but they prefer to be ‘on the dance floor’ in direct contact with the dancers, complete with collective shouting and sweating. Currently, music inspired by folk music is easy to find, but next to no one steps down from the stage – concert performance is apparently a must. The folk-‐music revival, however, does not go quite that far. Whether the Tanzhausgeiger will create a niche product, or adapt to prevailing audience expectations, remains to be seen.”
Johanna Kugler – violin, voice
Hermann Haertel – violin, voice
Erna Ströbitzer – viola, voice
Daniel Moser – soprano saxophone, flute, voice
Simon Ackermann – double bass
