John Wolf Brennan
Landis & Gyr Stiftung Residency
1997
John Wolf Brennan is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based in Weggis, Switzerland. From 1980 to 1984 he played in Impetus and the Mohrenkopf Afro-jazz band. In 1988, he worked in New York City for six months, founding the quartet Pago Libre the following year. Early in the 1990s he worked with Lindsay Cooper, Daniele Patumi, and Tscho Theissing and established the SinFONietta ensemble in 1991. In 1993, he worked with American drummer Alex Cline in the quintet Shooting Stars & Traffic Lights. Russian hornist Arkady Shilkloper joined Pago Libre and recorded the albums Pago Libre (1996), Stepping Out (2006), PlatzDADA! (2008) and Fake Foll (2009). In 1997 Paul lived in London, working with Julie Tippetts, Evan Parker, and Chris Cutler on the group HeXtet, which set to music poems by Seamus Heaney, Edgar Allan Poe, and Theo Dorgan.
In 2010, he created the sound installation Inner & Outer Spaces with video artist Susanne Hofer for the Lucerne Art Museum, performing with Gerry Hemingway and Thomas K. J. Mejer. John has composed film music, chamber music, and the operas Güdelmäntig (2004) and Night.Shift (2007, based on the poem "The Age of Anxiety" by W. H. Auden). John has released several solo albums, including: The Beauty of Fractals (1989), The Well-Prepared Caviar (1998), Pictures in a Gallery (2006), and The Speed of Dark (2009).
Landis & Gyr Stiftung, Switzerland
The Landis & Gyr foundation awards studio scholarships to Swiss artists and cultural professionals in London, Budapest, Sofia and Zug. Its London-based residency partnership with Acme was established in 1987, and provides six month long work/live opportunities for ten Swiss artists per year. Artists are selected for the programme directly by Landis & Gyr Stiftung and must demonstrate a track record of achievement in their field. Over two hundred visual artists, curators, writers, musicians and composers have benefitted from the programme. Residencies are based in Stepney, E1 and are available to Swiss residents only
For more information visit lg-stiftung.ch.
