in brieflive

The Kids Are Alright

Ligeti Quartet: »Workshop concert«

Ligeti Quartet. © Louise Mason

Sune Anderberg. © Alexander Banck-Petersen

I know, I know. A workshop concert at the conservatory: yawn. And no, hardly anyone showed up – apart from Bent Sørensen. Fair enough. But yes, you missed out. Especially on young Albert Laubel, who did exactly what you hope someone will do at this kind of concert: suddenly step forward, make a mark, and promise something for the future.

It was the English Ligeti Quartet visiting the Royal Danish Academy of Music for the seventh time to work with the students. And they did so with both commitment and precision. (Someone should really give them a prize one day – say, someone sitting on a fortune they clearly don’t know what to do with.)

Lucas Fagervik’s Bells & Canons set up stark oppositions, as composers tend to do in exercises of style: a bright, slightly fractured minor chord set against gentle baroque pastiche in increasingly rapid alternations. Then a movement with brutal – almost banal – glissandi, another with heavy bow strokes, and a final one in which the strings took turns trying to keep a single tone alive. A beautiful, constructive, and Jürg Frey–porous landing.

A different kind of circus instinct drove Yifan Shao’s ultra-short Dreams Evaporated Too Soon, which sounded like abused sounds dragged across a floor. The ending was ultra-theatrical: the quartet froze mid-air for a moment before scraping the last traces of life out of the strings.

»I can make this even more mannered,« Jonas Wiinblad must have thought, opening his String Trio with Viola – not a quartet, of course! – with silent playing. But cliché turned into quiet poetry as small, innocent intervals slowly emerged in tight patterns. When the viola was finally allowed to join, it went against the grain: a virtuosic solo cadenza with falling bow strokes, shimmering overtones, and temperament. Boom! A striking contrast. Less convincing was the piece’s apparent need for a final, unnecessary layer of electronic distortion. Still, points for mannerism.

What remained was Albert Laubel’s String Quartet as the most fully realized work of the concert. Not overthought, just a seamless movement between dynamic extremes. Distinctive trills were elegantly disarmed by inserted snaps, glissandi sounded like part of an internal logic rather than mere effect, and the sound world shifted with calm dramatic overview. Substance and maturity in 2026 – well, well.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

in briefrelease

18.05

Somewhere Between an Acid Dream and a Sound Garden

Kaloja: »A Body of Water«

Artetetra, 19.05

Kristoffer Møllegaard

On A Body of Water, you step directly into the singular sonic universe of Finnish multimedia artist Jan Anderzén(Tomutonttu, Kemialliset Ystävät). The album unfolds as a collage of whimsical melodies created in collaboration with British musician Paul Wilson (f.ampism, Yayoba), whose contributions subtly enrich the colorful patchwork of sonic threads. Subtle, perhaps, but unmistakable. The soundscape is densely detailed: beneath the constantly shifting melodies, countless tiny sonic shoots stretch eagerly toward the eardrum. It feels like an acid dream in which everything around you – from roadside flowers to airplanes crossing the sky – has suddenly begun to sing.

Paradoxically, this flood of chaotic and rapidly changing impressions gives the music an almost ambient quality. There is great pleasure in listening closely to the miniature details bubbling beneath the surface, occasionally bursting through to dominate the frequencies for a brief moment.

Yet strong, recurring melodies capable of anchoring the listening experience remain absent in favor of mood and texture. Importantly, this is not a flaw. Heard through an ambient lens, the album – which at first can seem slightly directionless – suddenly reveals its logic. Its playful depth and lack of rigid structure encourage endless free association. It is wonderful music for drifting thought: a multicolored universe where the imagination continually discovers new pathways through a dense undergrowth of details.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

playlist

14.05

We are L'arannà – would you like to see our playlist?

»To us, music is the definitive companion. As listeners, it fosters a sense of communion, bridging the gap between souls through the shared experience of sound. As creators, however, music confronts us with our own inner void, that profound solitude that nourishes the creative spirit. At the same time, it dares us to leap into the unknown to decipher the ineffable. Music anchors us to the present moment, to the 'now' shared with a live audience; yet, it also touches the eternal.«

L'arannà is an electronic folk duo. With their last project, Turmarí, the duo dives deep into the folk music traditions of the Pityusic Islands, offering – through their blend of sound exploration– a perspective on Ibiza and Formentera. Synthesizers and keyboards share the stage with traditional instruments and aesthetics inspired by the ancestral ball pagès dance. Reviving cant redoblat (a unique form of singing from these islands preserved by fewer than twenty people) the group weaves a narrative that traces the roots and lived reality of two islands that are far more than just a dreamt-of paradise. The band will be touring around Denmark and Sweden, from 27th to 31th of May, playing at venues like Turkis, Dexter, Inkonst or ALICE.

playlist

14.05

My name is Marcela Lucatelli – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music to me is movement, trance, transformation. The rest I won't tell you.«

Marcela Lucatelli is a vocalist and composer. Born in Brazil and based in Denmark, she has gained international recognition for her boundary-pushing performances — sensuous, politically charged, and uncompromisingly original. Described by The Wire as a composer of »scores for the limits of bodies and voice,« Lucatelli challenges conventions with her fearless vocal experimentation and bold compositions. Her works have been performed by Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, and Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. She has appeared at major festivals and venues, including Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, DR Koncerthuset, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, IRCAM, Copenhagen Opera Festival, Ultima Festival, Borealis Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Cafe Oto, A L’ARME!, DMA Jazz – Danish Music Awards, WOMEX, and many more. Lucatelli's work has earned her several prestigious awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Prize (2019), Pelle Prize (2021), and the Danish Music Awards' 2023 Vocal Jazz Release of the Year, which shows that vocal jazz has many faces – and does not necessarily belong only to the soft end of the spectrum.

playlist

14.05

My name is Salim Washington – would you like to see my playlist?

»What is music to me? Here’s a quote from Nietzsche: ‘The people dancing all seemed crazy to the people who couldn’t hear the music.’«

Salim Washington is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, academic, and activist from Detroit who has been highly active on the American jazz scene since the 1970s, and also in South Africa, where he became a central figure. The spirit of John Coltrane hovers over his music, which carries both spiritual and social dimensions.

playlist

11.05

We are DØGNKIOSK – would you like to see our playlist?

»Music for us is the perfect language that we love to speak. A language where it is the individual's feelings and imagination that determine what is right and wrong. Everyone can speak the language. You don't have to be able to write or understand, but just listen. Some music requires that you listen carefully and maybe hear it several times. A bit like when you talk to someone from Norway or Sweden, you also have to listen a little extra.«

DØGNKIOSK is a Danish punk rock band with roots in Silkeborg. The band consists of bassist and singer Anders Ejner, who has been active on the Danish underground scene for several decades. Musically, DØGNKIOSK moves in a field between classic Danish punk and alternative rock. In the spring of 2026, the band will release their second album, Tæt på kanten.