Biography
Harpist, Improviser, ComposerJazz, Improvised Music, Experimental Music, Contemporary Music
The concert performer, improviser and composer Kathrin Pechlof is one of a very small number of harpists who integrate the sound of the harp into contemporary jazz and improvised music. She chooses her very own path, disregarding conventional stylisticcategories.
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Kathrin Pechlof studied classical harp w. Gudrun Haag in Munich and jazz composition and improvisation w. Joachim Ullrich and Frank Gratkowski in Cologne.
Her compositions “oscillate with rare conviction between the seemingly cold, abstract world of neotonality and the improvisatory spheres of jazz” (Jazz Podium). Her vision of a synthesis between improvised and composed music attracted international attention after the release of IMAGINARIUM the debut CD of her trio with Robert Landfermann and Christian Weidner, on the Munich PIROUET label in 2013, as well as the following album TOWARDTHE UNKNOWN, released 2018 as well on Pirouet.
Apart from the almost 10 years lasting work with her trio partners Robert Landfermann and Christian Weidner, Kathrin Pechlof has collaborated with many renowned musicians from Germany ́s and European jazz scene include Pablo Held (GLOW, Pirouet), Niels Klein (LOOM, Jazzwerkstatt), Benjamin Schäfer (QUIET FIRE, nWog-records w. Max Andrzejewski, Igor Spallati, James Wylie), Meinrad Kneer, Frank Gratkowski, Almut Kühne and Uli Plessmann (Unit), Peter Ehwald Septett (w. Richard Koch, AlmutKühne, Stefan Schulze, Matthias Nowak, John Schröder, Jazzwerkstatt). She has performed with Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, Jonas Burgwinkel, Sebastian Gille, Lucia Cadotsch, Kit Downes, Tom Arthurs, Philipp Gropper, Jozef Dumoulin and many others.
She also appears from time to time as guest artist in crossover projects like the Brandt Bauer Frick Ensemble (Pitch Festival Amsterdam, Mutek Festival Mexico City, Atonal Festival Berlin, Beethoven Fest Bonn, etc.), Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra (10years anniversary tour 2016, a.o. Roskilde Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern) and has played with pop acts like Max Herre (MTV Unplugged) and Emiliana Torrini (XJazz Festival). 2017 and 2019 she performed with EOS Kammerorchester Köln herown compositions for her trio and chamber orchestra.
Before shifting completely into jazz an improvised music, she has also performed as a substitute musician for various orchestras including the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Ludwigsburg Festival, the South-West German Philharmonic Orchestra inConstance, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the Beethoven Ensemble Bonn. She was also a member of the Taschenphilharmonie chamber orchestra in Munich for almost ten years.
Her work has been documented in numerous radio, TV, and CD productions.
Together with Christian Weidner she was co-curator and organiser of the SERIOUS SERIES,anindependent concert series for contemporary jazz and improvised music in Berlin. from 2013 to 2019,
Since 2016 she is doing cultural policywork as a member of the board of IG Jazz Berlin, a syndicate representing the interest of the berlin jazz scene.Currently she is a fellow of the Àrvore Foundation.
Kathrin Pechlof lives in Berlin.(Jan.2020)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.