Hans Koch
Aargauer Kuratorium Residency
2000
Hans Koch is a Swiss musician, performing the clarinet, saxophone, and electronic music. Having studied at the Conservatory in Biel and Zurich, Hans Koch began his musical career as a classical clarinetist, working from 1973 to 1980 at the Music College of Winterthur. In 1978, he met Martin Schütz, also at the Conservatory, and at the beginning of the 1980s they formed a jazz trio with the drummer Marco Käppeli. They performed jazz classics before moving to compose their own pieces. Performances eventually led to a recording on ECM (1987) and then a second disc on Sound Aspects (1988). In 1985 he won the best soloist award at the Jazzfestival Lugano and in 1986 was awarded the Kulturpreis from the city of Biel.
Hans' solo CD, Uluru was recorded in 1989 and at the end of 1991 CHOCKSHUT (a near anagram of Koch and Schütz) was recorded, a sextet that included Fredy Studer. This was the beginning of the trio "Koch-Schütz-Studer", though their first recording with the descriptive and provocative title of Hardcore chamber music was not recorded for another three years, by which time Koch was working with electronics as an extension of his reeds, as well as with sampling/sequencing. In the ten years that have followed, the trio has recorded frequently and collaborated with a wide variety of musicians: from Egypt, from Cuba, with DJs, and with poetry/spoken word.
Aargauer Kuratorium, Switzerland
Aargauer Kuratorium has worked in partnership with Acme to develop and provide a London-based artists' residency since 1999. Based in Bow, E3, the residency enables a wide spectrum of practitioners connected with the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, to undertake two six month long work/live residencies per year. Artist application and selection are conducted directly by Aargauer Kuratorium.
For further information and application details see ag.ch/kuratorium
