JOZEF VAN WISSEM (NL)

Probably the most famous lutenist in the world

„It's like a part of my body,“ says Jozef Van Wissem about the relationship he has with his instrument, the lute, has. „The complexity of the sounds is what drives me, because you can always find something new.

Since studying lute with Patrick O'Brien in New York in the 1990s, Van Wissem has created works rooted in classical Renaissance and Baroque lute music as well as embracing contemporary sounds such as drones, electronics and field recordings. Combined with some of his formative influences from the no-wave and industrial scenes and a dedicated approach to minimalism, this has led to Wissem creating a distinctive and unique body of work whose sound is often a mixture of opposites: meditative and intense, forward-thinking but with a sense of the arcane. „The Quietus“ described him as „probably the most famous lutenist in the world“.

Wissem's ability to always bring out something new and explore new terrain is evident in his extensive back catalog, including his most recent album The Night Dwells in the Day. Over the years, he has released countless solo albums in the double-digit range, there are collaborations with Jim Jarmusch and Tilda Swinton, award-winning film scores, from Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive to Pierre Creton's film A Prince from the year 2023.

The lute music he studies and plays is so old that it is written in the tablature notation of the time, which few musicians understand and know how to play. He also takes pictures, song titles and texts from dusty old books in order to breathe new life into them by integrating them into the present.„I like to go to markets and find old texts that nobody uses and that are not online“, he says. „It's like a forgotten world somewhere, and that really interests me.“

The original soundtrack of the 2023 Cannes award-winning film „Un Prince“ will be published in fall 2024.
We are pleased Jozef van Wissem with this unique instrument in the MPS studio for an intimate live concert.

We would like to thank the Villingen-Schwenningen Department of Culture for their support.

The concert will be recorded live!

Friday, October 25, 2024

Members, students, people with disabilities: 20 euros
Regular: 25 Euro

MPS-STUDIO
Richthofenstrasse 1/1
78048 VS-Villingen

ATTENTION: ABSOLUTE PARKING BAN IN THE COURTYARD! BICYCLES EXCLUDED.

Admission: 19:00
Start: 20:00

ABSOLUTE PARKING BAN IN THE COURTYARD, EXCEPT FOR BICYCLES.