1 —— Beauty. Nevertheless ——

In the organizer's words:

1 -- Beauty. Nevertheless --

Catinblack Ensemble featuring Sebastian Gramss
Live in Concert

11.09.2025
7:30 pm

The catinblack ensemble cordially invites you to the first edition of its new concert series at Szene 10 in Essen!

This series combines different musical worlds with new encounters, old stories and fresh perspectives. Each concert opens up a space for discovery - of music, style and history as well as of people. Our aim is to bring music closer in all its facets and to strengthen the cultural diversity of North Rhine-Westphalia.
of North Rhine-Westphalia. The performance of contemporary compositions shows: Music is not a static art form. It thrives on change, curiosity and the desire to find new forms of expression.

The promotion of young, innovative ideas and the combination of different forms of artistic expression inspire us to create an exciting, diverse and emotionally moving future.

In the first edition, you can expect a colourful program characterized by friendship, theater, innovation and musical disguise.

Music by Sebastian Gramss for Trio basso and Weltempfänger (TV)

When contemporary classical music is combined with another musical universe, something new is created. In the first concert, the catinblack ensemble meets the renowned jazz double bassist Sebastian Gramss. Together they develop a program between jazz, improvisation and new music - a fusion that dissolves boundaries and opens up new spaces.
and opens up new spaces.

Sebastian Gramss (*1966)
-- Beauty. Nevertheless --
A piece in twelve impulses
For Trio basso and Weltempfänger (TV) (2025)

In a world full of abysmal noise and slipping parallel worlds, the Cologne-based double bass
double bassist and composer Sebastian Gramss provides a tonal counterpoint.

Beauty, Nevertheless.
Twelve movements, twelve sound images as snapshots of simple beauty - an
aesthetic resilience to global madness...
(Sebastian Gramss)

Sebastian Gramss is a Cologne-based composer and double bassist who has been a style-defining figure on the border between contemporary music, chamber music and avant-garde jazz for decades. The Frankfurter Rundschau described him as the "mastermind" of the German music scene (Hans-Jürgen Linke).

He studied composition and double bass in Amsterdam and at the HfMT Cologne (1989-1994) and has released over 50 CDs under his own name. His works have been created for Pina Bausch, the Ensemble Modern, theaters in Bonn, Zurich and Düsseldorf as well as for film and television (e.g. ARTE).

As a bandleader, he has shaped well-known groups and ensembles such as Underkarl, Slowfox, Fossile 3, States of Play, Meteors and the international double bass orchestra BASSMASSE with up to 50 bassists

Gramss is a lecturer for double bass, composition and ensemble conducting in Cologne, Osnabrück and Hamburg, gives master classes worldwide and has toured in over 40 countries - around 100 concerts for the Goethe Institute alone.

Awards (selection):
- 2× Echo Jazz (2013, 2018)
- 2× German Jazz Award (2022)

The catinblack ensemble began its musical journey in 2020 as students at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. The low string trio, consisting of violist Sofia von Atzingen, cellist Ema Grčman and double bassist Javad Javadzade, is the union of three personalities who want to dedicate themselves to making music at the highest level and to exploring the great artists and themes of our time.

The catinblack ensemble performed at the NOW! Festival 2021 and was selected in the same year for a concert with WDR live recording in the series "WDR 3 Campus Konzerte". At this concert, they premiered a new work by Olga Rayeva. In 2022 and 2023, the ensemble was selected by the Musikfonds for the NEUSTARTKULTUR program "FEB-II and FEB-III - Funding for Ensembles and Bands". In 2022, the ensemble received a new work from the world-renowned composer Elena Firsova. In 2023, the ensemble premiered the concert piece "being-sent for singing low string trio", written for them by composer Jonah Haven. In 2023/2024, the ensemble took part in recordings at IRCAM in Paris for the work "POETICA" by Chaya Czernowin. In April of this year, the ensemble was in residence at the Harvard Group for New Music (HGNM) at Harvard University in Boston.

The catinblack ensemble was selected for the "InSzene" program of the German Music Council gGmbH "Podium Gegenwart" in 2025. This programme supports up-and-coming ensembles that specialize in contemporary music. The ensemble is keen to experiment with new concert formats and concepts and to collaborate with contemporary artists to develop new soundscapes.

9€/5€
karten@szene10.de
016099255623